Military court of the Democratic Republic of Congo sentences 37 people to death in coup trial | News

The defendants – including a Briton, a Belgian and a Canadian – have five days to appeal the verdict.

A military court in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) has sentenced 37 people, including three US citizens, to death. They are accused of participating in a failed coup in May.

“The court pronounces the harshest sentence: the death penalty for criminal association, the death penalty for assault, the death penalty for terrorism,” said court president Freddy Ehume in the verdict, which was read out live on television on Friday.

The defendants – including a Briton, a Belgian and a Canadian – have five days to appeal the verdict. In the trial, which began in June, 14 people were acquitted.

Richard Bondo, the lawyer defending the six foreigners, told the Associated Press that he doubted the death penalty could currently be imposed in the Democratic Republic of Congo, even though it was reinstated this year, and said his clients did not have adequate interpreters while investigating the case.

“We will appeal this decision,” Bondo said.

At the time of the coup attempt, military officials said armed men briefly occupied a presidential office in the capital, Kinshasa, on May 19. Their leader, US-based Congolese politician Christian Malanga, was killed by security forces, and two security guards were also killed in the failed takeover.

Malanga, who called himself the “President of New Zaire,” was a wealthy businessman, politician and former captain in the Congolese army. He ran in the 2011 parliamentary elections but was arrested and detained for several weeks under former President Joseph Kabila.

After his release, Malanga went to the United States, where he founded the opposition United Congolese Party (UCP). Over the years, he fought for religious freedom in Africa and led anti-corruption training initiatives for young Africans in Europe.

President Felix Tshisekedi was sworn in for a second term in January after elections marked by logistical problems, irregularities and violence.

West and Central Africa have experienced a number of coup attempts in recent years.

Human Rights Watch had called on the Congolese authorities to ensure that the process complies with international standards. “Congo and the region have a long history of coups and coup attempts,” said Lewis Mudge, Central Africa director of Human Rights Watch, shortly after the failed coup. “The Congolese government must use this crisis as an opportunity to demonstrate its commitment to human rights and the rule of law.”

Malanga's son, Marcel Malanga, was sentenced to death on Friday along with Taylor Thompson, who played high school football with him in Utah, and Benjamin Zalman-Polun, a business partner of the late elder Malanga.

Marcel Malanga had previously told the court that his father had threatened to kill him if he did not participate. He also told the court that this was his first visit to the Democratic Republic of Congo at the invitation of his father, whom he had not seen for years.

Another defendant convicted on Friday is a Belgian military expert.

“Most of them came from the diaspora,” said Al Jazeera's Alain Uaykani, reporting from Goma in eastern Democratic Republic of Congo. “This coup was not organized by the country's military or police officers here in the country.”

The Democratic Republic of Congo lifted a moratorium on the death penalty in March, citing treason and espionage in recurring armed conflicts.