September 14 (EUROPA PRESS) –
A military court in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) has sentenced 37 people, including three US citizens, to death after finding them guilty of participating in a failed coup in May that left six people dead.
The defendants, including three foreigners, will be able to appeal the sentence, which finds them guilty of committing crimes of terrorism, homicide and criminal association. Fourteen other people have been acquitted in a trial that began last June.
The president of the court, Freddy Ehuma, announced the imposition of the “harshest” sentence during the reading of the verdict, which was broadcast live on television. However, defense lawyers have questioned the possibility of this sentence being applied in the DRC, where it was reinstated earlier this year.
The lawyers are therefore seeking to appeal the court’s decision, arguing that the foreign defendants did not have an adequate translation system to be able to properly follow the proceedings, according to information collected by the American television network CBS.
Six people were killed in the failed coup attempt, which targeted the presidential palace in the capital Kinshasa and the residence of Parliament Speaker Vital Kamerhe. Congolese authorities confirmed the deaths of several attackers during the coup, including the alleged ringleader, identified as Christian Malanga, a member of the Congolese diaspora based in the United States.
Malanga was fatally shot as he resisted arrest shortly after broadcasting the attack live on his social media, the Congolese army said.
The day after the failed coup, DRC military spokesman General Sylvain Ekenge estimated that around 50 individuals had taken part in the operation and said that among those arrested were three US soldiers, including one of Malanga’s sons.
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