by Nurat Uthman
Prosecutors in the Democratic Republic of Congo on Tuesday called for the death penalty for 50 defendants, including three Americans, over what the army says was a coup attempt in May.
Military prosecutor Lieutenant Colonel Innocent Radjabu urged judges to sentence to death all those on trial over the alleged attempted May coup, barring one defendant.
Armed men attacked the home of economy minister Vital Kamerhe — who was elected head of the National Assembly three days later — in the early hours of May 19.
The group then went to the Palais de la Nation that houses President Felix Tshisekedi’s offices, brandishing flags of Zaire, the country’s name under ex-dictator Mobutu Sese Seko, who was overthrown in 1997.
Shots were heard near the building, several sources said at the time.
An army spokesman later announced on national TV that defense and security forces had stopped “an attempted coup d’etat.
The alleged plot was led by Christian Malanga, a Congolese man who was a “naturalized American” and who was killed by security forces, army spokesman General Sylvain Ekenge has said.
Richard Bondo, a defense lawyer for one of the American defendants, told AFP that the prosecutors’ call for the death penalty was “very severe.”
The defense is due to present its case on Friday.
