During the opening of their trial on Friday, three American suspects involved in what the Congolese army referred to as an attempted coup in Kinshasa in the previous month were informed that they had committed acts that were “punishable by death.”
The defendants, Marcel Malanga, Taylor Christian Thomson, both 21, and Benjamin Reuben Zalman-Polun, 36, were among the 50 defendants in the case and were the first to face the judge to hear the charges against them.
The presiding judge, Freddy Ehume, at the Kinshasa-Gombe military court, informed the three individuals in the Democratic Republic of Congo’s capital that the acts they committed were punishable by death.
The defendants, dressed in blue and yellow prison uniforms, stood separately before the judge to listen to the charges against them at the Ndolo military prison.
Around 10 assault rifles were presented as evidence during the trial, with Western diplomats, journalists, and lawyers in attendance. The trial is expected to resume on June 14.
The alleged attempted coup took place on May 19, with armed men attacking the home of Economy Minister Vital Kamerhe before proceeding to the Palais de la Nation where President Felix Tshisekedi’s offices are located.
Christian Malanga, a Congolese man leading the plot, was killed by security forces and his son, who is a US citizen, was one of the Americans facing trial on Friday. Around 40 assailants of various nationalities were arrested and four were killed during the incident, which was condemned by the government.
The charges against the defendants include attack, terrorism, illegal possession of weapons, attempted assassination, criminal association, murder, and financing of terrorism. The trial also involves a separate investigation into alleged extrajudicial executions after the operation.
In March, the Congolese government lifted the moratorium on the death penalty, particularly targeting soldiers accused of treason amid armed rebellion in the country’s east.
