Thirty-seven people, including three Americans, a Briton, a Belgian, and a Canadian national, have been sentenced to death for attempting to overthrow the president of the Democratic Republic of Congo.
In May, the men were accused of leading an attack on the presidential palace as well as the home of President Félix Tshisekedi’s ally.
Christian Malanga, a US national of Congolese origin and the suspected plot leader, was killed in the attack, along with five other people.
In total, 51 people were tried in a military court, with proceedings broadcast on national television and radio.
Malanga’s son Marcel, one of the US citizens sentenced to death, previously told the court that his father had threatened to kill him if he didn’t participate.
Fourteen people were acquitted and released.
Death sentences have not been carried out in the Democratic Republic of the Congo for nearly two decades; instead, those sentenced to death serve life in prison.
The government lifted the moratorium in March of this year, citing the need to remove “traitors” from the country’s dysfunctional military. However, no executions have been carried out since.
The attempted coup began in the capital, Kinshasa, in the early hours of May 19.
Armed men attacked the home of parliamentary speaker Vital Kamerhe in Kinshasa before moving on to the president’s official residence.
According to witnesses, about 20 assailants dressed in army uniforms attacked the palace, resulting in an exchange of gunfire.
An army spokesman later announced on national television that security forces had thwarted “an attempted coup d’état.”
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