The News
A military court in the Democratic Republic of Congo sentenced 37 people to death on Friday, after finding them guilty of attempting to overthrow the government earlier this year. The defendants include three Americans, a British national, a Belgian, and a Canadian citizen.
The group stands accused of an attempted coup in May that left six people dead, including Christian Malanga, a little-known opposition figure who was the suspected leader of the plot to attack the presidential palace.
Malanga’s son, one of the US citizens facing the death sentence, told the court that his father forced him to take part in the coup and threatened to kill him if he did not, the BBC reported. Leading up to the trial, the US State Department said it was denied access to the detained US citizens. Diplomatic sources told The Times of London that the US had limited ability to intervene in the case, as the men posted livestreams of themselves in the midst of the armed coup attempt.
While death sentences have not been implemented in Congo for more than two decades, authorities reinstated the death penalty earlier this year, citing a need to punish army “traitors” and terrorists. So far, no executions have been carried out, the BBC reported.