Six people were killed during the botched coup attempt led by the opposition figure Christian Malanga on 19 May that targeted the presidential palace and a close ally of President Félix Tshiseked, Guardian reported.
Armed men first attacked the parliamentary speaker Vital Kamerhe’s home in Kinshasa, then briefly occupied an office of the presidency, before Malanga, a US-based Congolese politician, was killed by security forces.
Malanga was shot while resisting arrest soon after live-streaming the attack on his social media, the Congolese army said.
The defendants, who also include a Belgian, a Canadian national, and several Congolese, can appeal against the verdict on charges that included terrorism, murder and criminal association. Fourteen people were acquitted in the trial, which opened in July.
The three Americans convicted were Malanga’s son Marcel Malanga, 21, as well as Tyler Thompson Jr and Benjamin Zalman-Polun.
Zalman-Polun, 36, was a business associate of Christian Malanga.
There was no official information available about the Briton, who was reported to also be a naturalized Congolese citizen.
A spokesperson for the UK’s Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office said: “We are providing consular assistance to a British man detained in DRC and are in contact with the local authorities.
In March, DRC reinstated the death penalty, lifting a 21-year-old moratorium, as authorities struggle to curb violence and militant attacks.
The justice ministry said at the time that the ban from 2003 had allowed offenders accused of treason and espionage to get away without sufficient punishment.
SD/
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