Three Americans and numerous others were found guilty by a military court in Congo, one of the biggest nations in Africa, of participating in a coup attempt. The court also handed down “the harshest penalty, that of death.”
Maj. Freddy Ehuma, the presiding judge, handed down the death sentence and found all 37 defendants, including the three Americans, guilty in an outdoor military court session.
The defendants were accused of terrorism, murder, criminal association, and unlawful weapon possession, among other offenses. The majority of the defendants were Congolese, although there were also British, Belgian, and Canadian defendants.
The six foreigners’ attorneys declared that they would appeal the verdicts.
The United States State Department issues a severe travel advisory, warning of violent crime and civil turmoil in the Congo. Here’s how the three Americans ended up in the middle of the coup attempt.What transpired during the May coup attempt
A motley crew, comprising three Americans, attempted to overthrow Felix Tshisekedi, the president of the Democratic Republic of the Congo, in the capital city of Kinshasa. Christian Malanga, a little-known opposition figure who sold used automobiles and experimented with gold mine, convinced his son, who was born in Utah, to participate in the abortive coup.
The coup attempt started at the home of Vital Kamerhe, a federal lawmaker and potential speaker of the Congolese National Assembly, who was a close associate of Tshisekedi. Officials reported that some of the attackers were slain by his guards.
While all of this was going on, Christian Malanga was live-streaming footage from the presidential palace, in which he could be seen being followed at night by a number of armed men dressed in military uniforms. He was later killed while resisting arrest, Congolese authorities said.
Dozens of Americans, including Christian Malanga, a Congolese opposition leader, were arrested and brought to a high-security military prison in Kinshasa. Family members claim that the young men have been sleeping on the floor, struggling with health issues, and having to pay for food and hygiene products. Malanga, born in Kinshasa, had described himself as a refugee who thrived after settling in the U.S. with his family in the 1990s. He became a leader of a Congolese opposition political party and met high-level officials in Washington and the Vatican.
Court records and interviews paint another picture. In 2001, Malanga was convicted in Utah of assault with a firearm, which resulted in a 30-day jail sentence and three years of probation. In 2004, he was charged with domestic violence assault and battery and disturbing the peace, but he pleaded not guilty and all counts were dismissed. Since 2004, records show several cases related to a custody dispute and a child support dispute.
The three imprisoned Americans are Marcel Malanga’s 21-year-old son, Tyler Thompson Jr., who flew to Africa from Utah with the younger Malanga for what his family believed was a free vacation, and Benjamin Reuben Zalman-Polun, who is reported to have known Christian Malanga through a gold mining company. Marcel Malanga told the court his father had threatened to kill him and Thompson if they did not take part in the attack.
All of those convicted have five days to appeal the verdict. Congo reinstated the death penalty earlier this year, lifting a more than two-decade-old moratorium. The men convicted in the coup attempt would likely be executed by firing squad. The U.S. State Department has not declared the Americans wrongfully detained, making it unlikely that U.S. officials would try to negotiate their return.
(AP)
