By Nakiwala Barbra
A military court in the Democratic Republic of Congo has sentenced 37 individuals, including three Americans, a Briton, a Belgian, and a Canadian national, to death for their involvement in a failed attempt to overthrow President Félix Tshisekedi in May.
The defendants were accused of leading a deadly attack on the presidential palace and the home of a presidential ally. Christian Malanga, a US national of Congolese origin and suspected leader of the plot, was killed during the attack, along with five others.
The trial, which was broadcast on national TV and radio, saw 51 people face charges. Among those sentenced to death are Marcel Malanga, Christian’s son, and his friend Tyler Thompson, both US citizens in their 20s who played football together in Utah.
Marcel Malanga had previously testified that his father had threatened to kill him unless he participated in the plot. Thompson’s stepmother, Miranda, expressed shock and confusion over his involvement, stating that the family had “zero idea” how he had ended up in DR Congo.
The sentences have raised concerns about the fairness of the trial and the use of capital punishment in the country. The DR Congo had previously maintained a moratorium on death sentences for nearly two decades, only lifting it in March.
