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

Thirty-seven individuals, including several Western nationals, have been sentenced to death in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) for their involvement in a failed coup attempt, BBC stated.

The group, which included three Americans, a Briton, a Belgian, and a Canadian, was accused of launching an attack on the presidential palace and the residence of a presidential ally in May. The alleged leader of the plot, US national Christian Malanga, was killed during the attack.

A total of 51 individuals faced trial in a military court, with the proceedings broadcast nationally. Among those sentenced to death were Marcel Malanga, son of Christian Malanga, and his friend Tyler Thompson. Both men are in their 20s and have been convicted of their involvement in the coup attempt.

Marcel Malanga, an American citizen suspected along with a group of around fifty other people to be involved in an attempted coup in Congo, waits for the final verdict during the trial in Kinshasa, Democratic Republic of Congo. (Reuters)

Thompson’s stepmother, Miranda Thompson, told the BBC in June that the family had “zero idea” how he became involved in the plot. “We were in complete shock as to what was happening, and the unknown. Everything we were learning was what we were getting off Google,” she said.

The third American, Benjamin Zalman-Polun, reportedly had business ties with Christian Malanga. The trial concluded with the acquittal and release of 14 individuals.

Although the death penalty has not been carried out in DR Congo for around two decades, with those sentenced typically serving life imprisonment, the government lifted the moratorium in March, citing the need to remove “traitors” from the military. However, no executions have taken place since.

The coup attempt, which unfolded in Kinshasa on 19 May, saw armed men in military uniform attacking the homes of key political figures, including parliamentary speaker Vital Kamerhe. The assailants later moved on to the president’s official residence, where a gunfight ensued. The army announced on national TV that security forces had successfully thwarted the coup attempt.

(with inputs from BBC)

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