Trial over thwarted ‘coup’ bid opens in DR Congo

AFP :
Around 50 people including several Americans are due to go on trial on Friday in the Democratic Republic of Congo over what the army said was an attempted coup, military justice official said.
The hearing, which is due to begin during the morning, is taking place in a military court inside the Ndolo military prison in the capital Kinshasa.
Armed men attacked the home of Economy Minister Vital Kamerhe in the early hours of May 19 before moving onto the nearby Palais de la Nation that houses President Felix Tshisekedi’s offices.
The army later announced on national TV that security forces had stopped “an attempted coup d’etat”.
The plot was led by Christian Malanga, a Congolese man who was a “naturalised American” and who was killed by security forces, army spokesman General Sylvain Ekenge said.
Ekenge said the attackers were made up of “several nationalities” and that around 40 were arrested, with another four — including Malanga — killed.