Lawyer for 3 US citizens facing a death sentence over DRC coup attempt files appeal

On September 13, 2024, a military court in the Democratic Republic of Congo sentenced 37 people, including three Americans, to death for participating in a failed coup attempt.

The Americans, Marcel Malanga, Tyler Thompson Jr., and Benjamin Reuben Zalman-Polun, are among those convicted.

The death penalty, reinstated earlier this year after a 22-year hiatus, may result in execution by firing squad.

Richard Bondo, the lawyer for the Americans, has appealed the sentences, arguing that the death penalty is illegal under the Treaty of Rome, which Congo is a part of.

The appeal challenges the legality of the penalty and the trial's conduct.

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