A military tribunal in the Democratic Republic of Congo’s capital Kinshasa on Friday sentenced six men to life in prison for murdering Italy’s ambassador in 2021.
Public prosecutors had originally sought the death penalty for the six accused calling them members of a “criminal gang”.
Luca Attanasio was among three people shot dead on February 22, 2021, when a United Nations convoy was ambushed in the DRC’s troubled east.
The other fatalities were driver Mustapha Milambo and Italian police officer Vittorio Iacovacci.
On Friday, lawyers for the six Congolese men told AFP they would appeal the life terms.
On Friday, the military tribunal also awarded damages to Italy to the Congolese franc equivalent of $2 million dollars.