KINSHASA, Sept 14 (NNN-IRIN) – Thirty-seven alleged coup plotters, including three Americans, were convicted and sentenced to death, yesterday, by a Kinshasa military court, in a trial against the failed coup of May 19, in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC).
A total of 51 people were tried by a military court in Kinshasa, the capital of DRC, with the hearings broadcast on national television. The three Americans sentenced to death were convicted for the offenses of criminal association, attack and terrorism, including Marcel Malanga, son of Christian Malanga, the alleged leader of the attempted coup.
According to the DRC army, an “attempted coup” led by little-known opponent, Christian Malanga, was “nipped in the bud” early May 19. Six people, including Christian Malanga himself, were killed.
The putschists attacked the residence of Vital Kamerhe, then deputy prime minister, before intruding the Palais de la Nation, where the offices of DRC President, Felix Tshisekedi are located.
The attackers, dressed in military uniforms and displaying the Zaire flag, claimed in video clips circulating on social media that, they wanted to “change things in the management of the Republic.” Zaire, officially the Republic of Zaire, was the name of the DRC from 1971 to 1997.
Christian Malanga formed the United Congolese Party in 2010, and advocated for the return of Zaire. In 2017, He created a government in exile in Brussels, Belgium, giving birth to the so-called “New Zaire.”
Marcel Malanga, who was born in Utah, United States, and two other Americans, stood trial Friday.
It is not immediately known whether they would appeal their case.– NNN-IRIN