A Democratic Republic of Congo court has sentenced 37 people to death for taking part in an attempt to overthrow President Félix Tshisekedi in May.
Gatekeepers News reports that three Americans, a Briton, a Belgian, and a Canadian national were among the people sentenced.
Congolese army attributed the attempted coup which was foiled to local and foreign fighters.
This came hours after armed men attacked house of Vital Kamerhe, former chief of staff and close ally of Tshisekedi.
Michel Muhima, Kamerhe’s spokesperson, had said the three people died when the gunmen clad in military uniform engaged the politician’s guards in a shootout.
Christian Malanga, a US national of Congolese origin who is a suspected leader of the plot, was killed during the attack.
Marcel, Malanga’s son, told the court that his father threatened to kill him if he didn’t take part in the coup.
Lucy Tamyln, US ambassador to Congo expressed shock and concern at the involvement of American citizens.
The ambassador assured that US authorities would cooperate with DRC government to hold involved citizens accountable.
The court acquitted 14 people during the verdict on Friday.
Death sentences have not been carried out in
This will be the first time convicts were sentenced to death in about two decades, as convicts served life imprisonment.
The government changed the rule in March, saying it needed to remove “traitors” from the nation’s dysfunctional army.
