Thirty-seven people, including three Americans, a Briton, a Belgian and a Canadian, have been sentenced to death for attempting to overthrow the president of the Democratic Republic of Congo.
The men were accused of leading an attack on both the presidential palace and the home of an ally of President Felix Tshisekedi in May.
Christian Malanga, a US citizen of Congolese descent, the suspected leader of the plot, was killed in the attack, along with five others.
A total of 51 people were tried by a military court. The hearings were broadcast on national television and radio.
In DR Congo, death sentences have not been carried out for about twenty years. Convicts who are sentenced to death are instead given life imprisonment.
The government lifted the moratorium in March this year, citing the need to remove “traitors” from the country’s dysfunctional military. However, no death sentences have been carried out since then.
The attempted coup in question began in the capital, Kinshasa, in the early hours of May 19. Gunmen first attacked the Kinshasa home of parliament speaker Vital Kamerhe and then moved on to the president’s official residence.
Witnesses reported that a group of about 20 assailants in military uniforms attacked the palace, followed by gunfire.
An army spokesman later announced on national television that security forces had prevented a “coup attempt.”
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