Death penalty requested for 50 defendants in the trial of the attempted coup in the Democratic Republic of Congo

In the Democratic Republic of Congo, the death penalty was requested against 50 people including three Americans on Tuesday, August 27, for an “attempted coup d’état” on May 19 in the country. A request judged “very severe” by the defense, which is due to plead on Friday.

On May 19, dozens of men attacked the home of outgoing Economy Minister Vital Kamerhe, who has since become President of the National Assembly. They then stormed the Palais de la Nation, a historic building housing President Félix Tshisekedi’s offices. Security forces arrested about forty men and killed four others, including their alleged leader, Christian Malanga, a 41-year-old Congolese living in the United States.

Since June 7, the Kinshasa-Gombe garrison military court has been trying 51 people for what the army has called an “attempted coup d’état.” Six foreigners are among them: three Americans; a Belgian, a Briton and a Canadian, all three naturalized Congolese. With the exception of one defendant suffering from “psychological disorders,” Lieutenant Colonel Innocent Radjabu, representing the public prosecutor, called on the judges to “sentence to capital punishment” all defendants for “attack”, “terrorism”, “attempted assassination”, “criminal association” and “murder”.