Trial ended without clarification: Congo sentenced 37 coup plotters to death – including three US citizens

The trial ended without clarification
Congo sentenced 37 coup plotters to death – including three US citizens

14.09.2024, 00:22

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On the night of May 19, a group of armed men in the Democratic Republic of Congo attempted to storm the office of President Félix Tshisekedi. Their coup attempt failed and a military court imposed severe punishments: 37 of the 51 defendants were sentenced to death.

A military court in the Democratic Republic of Congo has handed down 37 death sentences for an attempted coup in May. Among those convicted are three Americans and three other defendants with Belgian, British and Canadian passports. The defendants were also ordered to pay up to 50 million US dollars in damages to the state. 14 defendants were acquitted.

The convicted defendants’ lawyers announced that they would appeal. A defense attorney, Richard Bondo, spoke of a verdict “without taking into account mitigating circumstances.”

Opposition politicians as ringleaders

The 51 defendants have been on trial since June for an attempted coup that the Congolese army claimed to have foiled. They were accused of terrorism, illegal possession of weapons and ammunition, attempted assassination, forming a criminal organization, murder and financing terrorism.

On the night of May 19, a group of armed men attempted to storm President Félix Tshisekedi’s office in Kinshasa. There they announced the end of the rule of the president, who has been in office since 2019 and was re-elected in December. The army later announced on state television that the coup had failed. Opposition politician Christian Malanga, the alleged leader of the coup attempt, was killed, according to security forces. Among those sentenced to death is his son, US citizen Marcel Malanga.

Participation in the coup forced?

The trial provided little clarity about the background to the events of May 19. Marcel Malanga said his father had threatened “that he would kill us if we did not listen to him.” The two other US citizens, 22-year-old Tyler Thompson and 36-year-old Benjamin Zalman-Polun, also stated that they were forced to take part in the coup.

The human rights organization Human Rights Watch also criticized the arrest of Belgian-Congolese security expert Jean Jacques Wondo, who was also sentenced to death. According to his relatives, the charges against him were based on a 2016 photo in which he was seen together with Malanga.

The Democratic Republic of Congo had suspended the death penalty for years. Despite great criticism, it was reintroduced after the attempted coup.