DR Congo military court sentences 37 to death in coup trial
Al Jazeera
The defendants – who also included a Briton, Belgian and Canadian – have five days to appeal the verdict.
A military court in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) has sentenced to death 37 people, including three United States citizens, on charges of taking part in a failed coup in May.
“The court pronounces the harshest sentence: the death penalty for criminal association, the death penalty for attack, the death penalty for terrorism,” the court’s president, Freddy Ehume, said in a verdict read on live television on Friday.
The defendants – who also included a Briton, Belgian and Canadian – have five days to appeal the verdict. Fourteen people were acquitted in the trial, which opened in June.
Richard Bondo, the lawyer who defended the six foreigners, told The Associated Press news agency he disputed whether the death penalty could currently be imposed in the DRC despite its reinstatement this year and said his clients had inadequate interpreters during the investigation of the case.
“We will challenge this decision on appeal,” Bondo said.
