A spokesperson for the Foreign Office informed that they are providing consular support to “a British man detained in the DRC” and are in contact with local authorities.
“We have raised concerns about the use of the death penalty with the DRC at the highest levels and will continue to do so,” the spokesperson added.
Among those sentenced alongside the British national were three U.S. citizens, a Belgian, a Canadian, and several Congolese nationals.
Judge Major Freddy Ehuma, presiding over a public military court session in Kinshasa that was broadcast live on television, announced that the defendants had received “the harshest sentence, that of death.”
The convicted individuals have five days to appeal the verdicts, which stemmed from charges including terrorism, murder, and criminal conspiracy.
The trial, which began in June, saw 14 people acquitted.
The failed coup attempt, which took place in May, resulted in six deaths and was led by Christian Malanga, a relatively unknown opposition figure. The rebels briefly took control of President Felix Tshisekedi’s office within the presidential palace before being apprehended, according to mediacongo.net.
The Congolese military reported that Christian Malanga was fatally shot while resisting arrest shortly after live-streaming the attack on his social media accounts.
Among the convicted was Malanga’s 21-year-old son, Marcel, a U.S. citizen, alongside fellow Americans Tyler Thompson Jr. and Benjamin Reuben Zalman-Polun.
Marcel Malanga’s mother, Brittney Sawyer, insists her son is innocent, explaining that he was merely following his father, who claimed to be the leader of a shadow government in exile.
Mr. Thompson Jr. had traveled from Utah to meet with Christian Malanga, with his family under the impression that the trip was merely a holiday. However, after arriving, the situation took a serious turn, and Thompson Jr. found himself caught up in a coup attempt. According to reports, another U.S. citizen involved, Benjamin Reuben Zalman-Polun, aged 36, had known Malanga through a gold mining business that they had jointly established in Mozambique in 2022.
Thompson Jr.’s family has strongly denied any involvement on his part in the coup plot, stating that he was completely unaware of Malanga’s intentions. They emphasized that he had no plans to even enter the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), believing the trip was entirely for leisure purposes. His relatives have maintained that he was an unwitting participant in a much larger scheme led by Malanga.
The British citizen who has also been sentenced alongside the others remains unidentified, with no official name released to the public. This individual is part of the group of 37 people sentenced to death following the failed coup attempt in May, a verdict that has attracted significant international attention due to the inclusion of several foreign nationals among the convicted.
Earlier this year, the DRC reinstated the death penalty after suspending it for over two decades. The decision to bring back capital punishment comes as the country faces a surge in violence and militant attacks, contributing to a climate of instability. The reintroduction of the death penalty has raised concerns within the international community, particularly as it is now being applied to the foreign citizens involved in this case.
Richard Bondo, the lawyer representing the six foreigners, has challenged the verdict, arguing that the death penalty should not be imposed. He further claimed that his clients were denied fair treatment, pointing to inadequate interpretation services provided during the investigation as a key issue. Bondo has confirmed that an appeal will be filed, as he continues to dispute both the sentence and the process through which the convictions were reached.