3 Americans jailed over failed DRC coup now in US custody
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On May 19, 2024, gunmen in military uniforms occupied DRC President Tshisekedi's office and attacked the home of former economy minister Vital Kamerhe, killing six people, including two police officers.
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Tyler Thompson Jr., Marcel Malanga, and Benjamin Reuben Zalman-Polun, American citizens in Kinshasa, Congo, with 52 other defendants, on June 7, 2024 (AP)
Three US nationals imprisoned for a failed coup attempt in the Democratic Republic of the Congo are now in US custody after their sentences were shortened last week, four US officials and the Congolese presidency revealed to Reuters on Tuesday.
On May 19, 2024, gunmen dressed in military uniforms occupied the office of DRC President Felix Tshisekedi after invading the home of the outgoing economy minister and a candidate for speaker of the National Assembly, Vital Kamerhe. Six people were reportedly killed, including two police officers, in the process.
The decision to hand over the Americans was concluded as President Donald Trump's top Africa advisor, Massad Boulos, met in DRC's Kinshasa with President Felix Tshisekedi.
Among them is 21-year-old Marcel Malanga, a West Jordan resident and the son of opposition leader Christian Malanga, who spearheaded the failed coup attempt on Kinshasa's presidential palace.
Also deported are Tyler Thompson Jr., 21, a friend of the younger Malanga who came to Africa from Utah for what his family assumed was a free vacation, and Benjamin Reuben Zalman-Polun, 36.
A DRC military court sentenced 37 persons to death in September 2024, including Malanga, Thompson, and Zalman-Polun.
The repatriation comes as Washington and Kinshasa negotiate security and mining issues. Prior to the trip, Trump's special envoy for hostage response had urged Tshisekedi to free the Americans.
DRC's minerals, which are utilized in mobile phones and electric vehicles, are presently mostly extracted by China and its mining corporations.
According to a US source close to the discussions, the three Americans will face prosecution in their own country for their involvement in the coup attempt.
The United States is willing to explore strategic minerals partnerships with DRC, the State Department said in a statement to Reuters last month, after a Congolese senator approached US officials about a minerals-for-security arrangement.
