Foreigners among 37 sentenced to death in DR Congo ‘coup’ trial

Three Americans were among 37 people sentenced to death in the Democratic Republic of Congo on Friday over what the army says was a coup attempt.

The court in Kinshasa remained silent as the verdicts were read, with defendants dressed in blue and yellow prison uniforms and seated on plastic chairs, their faces sombre.

Death sentences were also handed down to a Belgian, Briton and Canadian, all naturalised Congolese.

“The court pronounces the harshest sentence: the death penalty,” court president Freddy Ehume said in concluding the trial of 51 people that began in early June.

Lawyers for the defence told AFP they intended to appeal, calling it a “shameful decision taken in bad faith”.

Several human rights groups have also said the trial proceedings were not transparent.

The alleged coup attempt unfurled in the early hours of May 19 when several dozen armed men attacked the home of then economy minister Vital Kamerhe, who is now the national assembly president.

Two policemen guarding him were killed.

All but one of those sentenced to death were found guilty of criminal association, attack and terrorism.

Fourteen defendants were acquitted, with the investigation showing they had “no connection” with the events, the court said.

The hearing began early in the afternoon under a tent in a courtyard of the Ndolo military prison in Kinshasa, an AFP journalist saw.

The Belgian, military expert Jean-Jacques Wondo, told AFP ahead of the trial that he hoped to be acquitted and that he was suffering a “difficult ordeal”.

During the alleged coup attempt, the armed men also went to a building housing President Felix Tshisekedi’s offices brandishing flags of Zaire, the country’s name under ex-dictator Mobutu Sese Seko, who was overthrown in 1997.

Shots were heard near the building, several sources said at the time.

An army spokesman later announced on national TV that defence and security forces had stopped “an attempted coup d’etat”.

– ‘Forced to carry an arm’ –
The alleged plot was led by Christian Malanga, a Congolese man who was a “naturalised American” and who was killed by security forces, army spokesman General Sylvain Ekenge has said.

The three Americans on trial include Malanga’s son Marcel Malanga.

The two other Americans being tried are 22-year-old Tyler Thompson and Benjamin Zalman-Polun, 36.

US State Department spokesman Matthew Miller said Friday that “embassy staff have been attending the proceedings and will continue to follow the developments”.

The trial began on June 7 at the Ndolo military prison, where all the defendants were being held.

The proceedings have shed little light on the motivations behind the May 19 events, for which the defendants placed the blame on Christian Malanga.

Thompson told the court he had been “forced” into participating, as did the two other US citizens.

“I was forced to carry an arm,” Thompson said.

“I came to the DRC to visit Marcel’s family who I had never seen before,” he added.

Malanga said his father had “told us he would kill us if we didn’t listen”, and Zalman-Polun said he was “kidnapped” and “forced” into taking part.

Last month, military prosecutor Lieutenant Colonel Innocent Radjabu urged judges to sentence to death all but one of the defendants, who according to a medical report suffers from “psychological disorders”.

In March, the Congolese government defied criticism from human rights organisations and lifted a moratorium on the death penalty in place since 2003.