3 Americans and 34 Others Sentenced to Death for a Failed Coup in Congo

 

Marcel Malanga (C) sits among other accused of a failed coup attempt at the Ndolo Prison in Kinshasa on June 7, 2024. A trial opened in the Democratic Republic of Congo on Friday of around 50 people including several Americans over what the army said was a thwarted coup attempt last month. 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”. (Photo by Arsene MPIANA / AFP) (Photo by ARSENE MPIANA/AFP via Getty Images)

A military court in Congo has sentenced three Americans and 34 others to death after convicting them on charges of taking part in a coup attempt. 

The defendants may appeal the verdict on charges of terrorism, murder, and criminal association. 14 people were acquitted during the trial, which began in June.

Six people were killed in a coup attempt in May led by Christian Malanga, an opposition figure who targeted the presidential palace and a close ally of President Felix Tshisekedi. 

Malanga was fatally shot while resisting arrest shortly after live-streaming the attack on social media, according to the Congolese army.

Malanga’s 21-year-old son Marcel Malanga, a U.S. citizen, and two other Americans were convicted of the attack. His mother, Brittney Sawyer, has stated that her son is innocent and was simply following his father, who considered himself the president of a shadow government in exile.

The other Americans were Tyler Thompson Jr., who flew to Africa from Utah with the younger Malanga for what his family thought was a vacation, and Benjamin Reuben Zalman-Polun, 36, who is said to have known Malanga through a gold mining company.

According to an official government report, the company was established in Mozambique in 2022.

Thompson’s family maintains that he had no knowledge of the elder Malanga’s intentions, no plans for political activism, and no intention of entering Congo. Thompson’s stepmother stated that he and the Malangas were only planning to visit South Africa and Eswatini.

Last month, Lt. Col. Innocent Radjabu, the military prosecutor, urged the judges to sentence all of the defendants to death, except one who has “psychological problems.”

Congo reinstated the death penalty earlier this year, lifting a more than two-decade-long moratorium as authorities struggle to reduce violence and militant attacks in the country.