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Congo’s President Félix Tshisekedi has commuted the death sentences of three Americans convicted for their involvement in last year’s failed coup attempt in Kinshasa, a government official announced Wednesday.
Presidential spokesperson Tina Salama confirmed that a presidential order reduced their sentences to life imprisonment, more than six months after a military court sentenced them and over 30 others to death for the attempted coup.
The decision comes as Congolese authorities pursue a minerals deal with the U.S. in exchange for security assistance to combat rebel groups in eastern Congo.
The botched coup, led by little-known opposition figure Christian Malanga, targeted the presidential palace and a key ally of Tshisekedi. Six people were killed in the attack, and Malanga was fatally shot while resisting arrest, shortly after live-streaming the operation.
Among the convicted Americans is Marcel Malanga, 21, the son of the coup leader. He testified that his father had forced him and his friend, Tyler Thompson Jr., 21, to participate, claiming, “Dad had threatened to kill us if we did not follow his orders.” Thompson, a high school friend of Malanga, had flown to Africa from Utah for what his family believed was a free vacation. The third American, Benjamin Reuben Zalman-Polun, 36, was reportedly connected to Christian Malanga through a gold mining business.
The trial included mostly Congolese defendants, along with a Briton, a Belgian, and a Canadian. Charges ranged from attempted coup and terrorism to criminal association. Fourteen people were acquitted.
Meanwhile, the U.S. State Department announced that President Donald Trump’s new senior advisor for Africa, Massad Boulos, will visit Congo, Rwanda, Kenya, and Uganda starting April 3. His trip aims to advance peace efforts in eastern Congo and boost U.S. private sector investment in the region.
