A British plumber and three Americans are among 37 people sentenced to death on charges of taking part in a murky coup plot to overthrow the Congolese president.
Youssouf Ezangi is to be executed alongside five other foreigners following a military tribunal in the country’s capital, Kinshasa.
Six people were killed during the short-lived uprising in May, led by a little-known opposition figure called Christian Malanga.
It targeted the presidential palace and a close ally of Felix Tshisekedi, the president of the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC).
Malanga was shot dead while resisting arrest, soon after live-streaming the attack on his social media, the Congolese army said.
Military authorities accused Mr Ezangi of being a ringleader in the plot.
However, his lawyers told The Telegraph that he had been tortured into confessing and then subjected to a rushed and flawed show trial.
Mr Ezangi has been sentenced to death over the short-lived uprising in May, in which six people were killed during
As a civilian, he should not have been tried by a military tribunal, they said, while several defendants also insisted that they had been coerced into joining Malanga’s attack.
Saul Lehrfreund, the co-executive director of the UK-based Death Penalty Project, said that the trial had been “highly unsatisfactory”.
He said: “Imposing 37 death sentences in these circumstances is unthinkable. We will be raising concerns with international bodies, seeking an urgent investigation.”
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