A military court in Congo handed down death sentences on Friday to 37 people, including a Canadian, after convicting them on charges of participating in a coup attempt.
The defendants, most of them Congolese but also including a Briton, Belgian and three Americans, have five days to appeal the verdict on charges that include an attempted coup, terrorism and criminal association. Fourteen people were acquitted in the trial, which began in June.
The open-air military court in the capital, Kinshasa, convicted the 37 defendants and imposed “the harshest penalty, that of death” in the verdict delivered in French by presiding judge Maj. Freddy Ehuma.
“Global Affairs Canada is aware of reports that a Canadian citizen was sentenced to death in the Democratic Republic of the Congo,” the agency told CBC News in an email on Saturday.
“Canadian officials are providing consular assistance.”
Richard Bondo, the lawyer who defended the six foreigners, disputed whether the death penalty could currently be imposed in Congo, despite its reinstatement earlier this year, and said his clients had inadequate interpreters during the investigation of the case.
“We will challenge this decision on appeal,” Bondo said.
Six people were killed during the botched coup attempt, led by little-known opposition figure Christian Malanga, in May that targeted the presidential palace and a close ally of President Felix Tshisekedi. Malanga was fatally shot while resisting arrest soon after livestreaming the attack on his social media feed, the Congolese army said.
Malanga’s 21-year-old son, Marcel Malanga, who is a U.S. citizen, and two other Americans were convicted in the coup attempt. He told the court that his father had forced him and his high school friend to take part in the attack.
“Dad had threatened to kill us if we did not follow his orders,” Marcel Malanga said.
Other members of the ragtag militia recounted similar threats from the elder Malanga, and some described being duped into believing they were working for a volunteer organization.
Marcel’s mother, Brittney Sawyer, maintains that her son is innocent and was simply following his father, who considered himself president of a shadow government in exile.
In the months since her son’s arrest, Sawyer has focused her energy on fundraising to send him money for food, hygiene products and a bed. He has been sleeping on the floor of his cell at the Ndolo military prison and is suffering from a liver disease, she said.
Members of the Congolese community gathered in Winnipeg on Saturday to denounce the escalation of violence in eastern Democratic Republic of Congo, while calling for Canadian intervention to bring peace to their home country.
U.S. State Department spokesperson Matthew Miller told reporters in Washington on Friday that the government was aware of the verdict. The department has not declared the three Americans wrongfully detained, making it unlikely that U.S. officials would try to negotiate their return.
“We understand that the legal process in the DRC allows for defendants to appeal the court’s decision,” Miller said. “Embassy staff have been attending these proceedings as they’ve gone through the process. We continue to attend the proceedings and follow the developments closely.”
Last month, Congo military prosecutor Lt. Col. Innocent Radjabu, called on the judge to sentence all of the defendants to death, except for one who suffers from “psychological problems.”
Congo reinstated the death penalty earlier this year, lifting a more than two-decade-old moratorium, as authorities struggle to curb violence and militant attacks in the country. The country’s penal code allows the president to designate the method of execution. Past executions of militants in Congo have been carried out by firing squad.
