(MENAFN- The Peninsula)
AP
Kinshasa: An American on trial in the Democratic Republic of Congo over an alleged coup bid suffered "torture" during his arrest, his lawyer told the court on Tuesday.
Taylor Christian Thomson, 21, is one of three Americans among 51 defendants being tried at the military court in the capital Kinshasa.
On May 19, armed men attacked the home of Economy Minister Vital Kamerhe in the early hours before moving onto the nearby Palais de la Nation that houses President Felix Tshisekedi's offices.
They were seemingly filmed brandishing the flag of Zaire -- the name of the Central African country during the rule of dictator Mobutu Sese Seko -- and chanting that Tshisekedi's government was over.
The army later announced a coup attempt had been stopped by the security forces.
Defence lawyer Karl Kwatangholo said that Thomson had "suffered torture" during the intervention by Congolese security forces.
His client, he said, had been "badly molested and photos of his nudity (taken by Congolese soldiers) appeared on social media".
Kwatangholo and lawyers for the other defendants also called for evidence from earlier hearings involving their clients to be annulled, particularly those carried out by the military intelligence service.
According to the defence, the minutes were drawn up without the assistance of interpreters, even though Thomson speaks English and the hearings were conducted in French.
Lawyers for the two other Americans, Marcel Malanga, 21, and Benjamin Reuben Zalman-Polun, 36, have complained of the same.
The lawyers also called on the military court to declare itself "incompetent" to try the defendants, who are all civilians.
The alleged 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 has said.
His son is Marcel Malanga.
Four women are among the accused, as well as a Canadian, a Briton and Belgian Jean-Jacques Wondo, who are all naturalised Congolese.
The charges include "attack, terrorism, illegal possession of weapons and munitions of war, attempted assassination, criminal association, murder (and) financing of terrorism", according to a court document.
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