KINSHASA, Congo (AP) — An army courtroom in Congo passed down demise sentences Friday to 37 other folks, together with 3 American citizens, after convicting them on fees of collaborating in a coup strive. The defendants, maximum of them Congolese but additionally together with a Briton, Belgian and Canadian, have 5 days to enchantment the decision on fees that incorporated tried coup, terrorism and prison affiliation. Fourteen other folks had been acquitted within the trial, which opened in June.The courtroom within the capital, Kinshasa, convicted the 37 defendants and imposed “the cruelest penalty, that of demise” within the verdict delivered via the presiding pass judgement on, Maj. Freddy Ehuma, at an open-air army courtroom continuing that used to be broadcast survive TV. The 3 American citizens, dressed in blue and yellow jail garments and sitting in plastic chairs, gave the impression stoic as a translator defined their sentence.
Richard Bondo, the legal professional who defended the six foreigners, stated he disputed whether or not the demise penalty may recently be imposed in Congo, regardless of its reinstatement previous this 12 months, and stated his purchasers had insufficient interpreters all through the investigation of the case.
“We can problem this choice on enchantment,” Bondo stated.Six other folks had been killed all through the botched coup strive led via the little-known opposition determine Christian Malanga in Might that focused the presidential palace and an in depth best friend of President Felix Tshisekedi. Malanga used to be fatally shot whilst resisting arrest quickly after live-streaming the assault on his social media, the Congolese military stated.
Malanga’s 21-year-old son Marcel Malanga, who’s a U.S. citizen, and two different American citizens had been convicted within the the assault. His mom, Brittney Sawyer, has stated her son is blameless and used to be merely following his father, who thought to be himself president of a shadow govt in exile.Within the months since her son’s arrest, Sawyer has declined more than one interview requests and has centered her power on fundraising to ship Marcel cash for meals, hygiene merchandise and a mattress. He has been dozing at the flooring of his jail mobile and is affected by a liver illness, she stated.
The opposite American citizens are Tyler Thompson Jr., 21, who flew to Africa from Utah with the more youthful Malanga for what his circle of relatives believed used to be a holiday, and Benjamin Reuben Zalman-Polun, 36, who’s reported to have identified Christian Malanga via a gold mining corporate. The corporate used to be arrange in Mozambique in 2022, in step with an reliable magazine printed via Mozambique’s govt, and a document via the Africa Intelligence e-newsletter.U.S. State Division spokesman Matthew Miller advised journalists in Washington on Friday that the government used to be conscious about the decision. The dep. has no longer declared the 3 American citizens wrongfully detained, making it not likely that U.S. officers would attempt to negotiate their go back.“We take into account that the criminal procedure within the DRC permits for defendants to enchantment the courtroom’s choice,” Miller stated. “Embassy body of workers had been attending those court cases as they’ve long gone in the course of the procedure. We proceed to wait the court cases and observe the traits intently.”
Thompson were invited on an Africa go back and forth via the more youthful Malanga, his former highschool soccer teammate in a Salt Lake Town suburb. However the itinerary may have incorporated greater than sightseeing. Different teammates alleged that Marcel had introduced as much as $100,000 to sign up for him on a “safety activity” in Congo.Thompson’s circle of relatives maintains he had no wisdom of the elder Malanga’s intentions, no plans for political activism and didn’t even plan to go into Congo. He and the Malangas had been supposed to go back and forth handiest to South Africa and Eswatini, his stepmother, Miranda Thompson, advised The Related Press in Might.The Thompsons had been operating with a legal professional of their house state of Utah to inspire U.S. officers to intrude. Utah’s U.S. Sens. Mitt Romney and Mike Lee have no longer publicly steered the U.S. govt to suggest for the American citizens’ liberate.“My ideas are with the households all through this tough time. We can proceed to paintings with the State Division to obtain updates in this case,” Lee advised the AP on Friday.
“That is a particularly tricky and scary scenario for the households concerned,” Romney’s place of job stated in a written commentary. “Our place of job has constantly engaged with the State Division and can proceed to take action.”Ultimate month, the army prosecutor, Lt. Col. Blameless Radjabu, known as at the judges to condemn the entire defendants to demise, with the exception of for one that suffers from “mental issues.”Congo reinstated the demise penalty previous this 12 months, lifting a greater than two-decade-old moratorium, as government battle to curb violence and militant assaults within the nation.___Schoenbaum reported from Salt Lake Town. Related Press writers Monika Pronczuk in Dakar, Senegal, and Matthew Lee in Washington contributed to this document.
