Congo court sentences 3 Americans and 34 others to death on coup charges

Associated Press

KINSHASA, Congo (AP) — A military court in Congo has convicted 37 people, including three Americans, on charges of taking part in a coup attempt and sentenced them to death. The defendants, who also included a Briton, Belgian, Canadian and several Congolese, can appeal the verdict on charges that included terrorism, murder and criminal association. Thirteen people were acquitted in the trial, which opened in June. Six people were killed during the botched coup attempt led by the 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. The three Americans convicted were Malanga’s 21-year-old son Marcel Malanga, Tyler Thompson Jr. and Benjamin Reuben Zalman-Polun.