US, British citizens among 37 sentenced to death in DR Congo coup trial

A Democratic Republic of Congo court has sentenced 37 people to death for taking part in an attempt to overthrow President Félix Tshisekedi in May.

Among those sentenced were three Americans, a Briton, a Belgian, and a Canadian national.

The Congolese army had attributed an attempted coup that it thwarted to local and foreign fighters.

The statement came hours after armed men attacked the house of Vital Kamerhe, former chief of staff and close ally of Tshisekedi.

Michel Muhima, Kamerhe’s spokesperson, had said the gunmen clad in military uniform engaged the politician’s guards in a shootout, leaving three people dead.

Christian Malanga, a US national of Congolese origin, the suspected leader of the plot, was killed during the attack.

Marcel, Malanga’s son, told the court that his father had threatened to kill him unless he took part.

Lucy Tamyln, US ambassador to the DRC, had expressed shock and concern at the involvement of American citizens.

Tamlyn assured that US authorities would cooperate with the DRC government to hold involved citizens accountable.

In the verdict on Friday, the court acquitted 14 people.

Death sentences have not been carried out in DR Congo for roughly two decades, as convicts serve life imprisonment instead.

However, the government lifted the suspension in March, citing the need to remove “traitors” from the nation’s dysfunctional army.