A Congolese military court on Friday sentenced 37 people, including three Americans, to death for their involvement in a coup attempt. Fourteen were acquitted.
In the Democratic Republic of Congo, six people were killed in May in a failed coup attempt targeting the presidential palace and a close aide of President Felix Tshisekedi led by opposition leader Christian Malanga who briefly occupied the presidential office.
Malanga was shot dead by Congolese forces following the attack. Malanga’s son Marcel Malanga, a US citizen, and two other Americans were convicted in the attack. The two other Americans sentenced are Tyler Thompson Jr. and Benjamin Ruben Zalman-Polun.
Tyler is Marcel’s friend. Polun has been a business associate of Christian Malanga. All three were found guilty of conspiracy, terrorism and other charges. They were sentenced to death in a verdict delivered on live TV.