Three Americans, Marcel Malanga Malu, Tylor Thomson, and Zalman Polun Benjamin, have been repatriated to the United States to serve their life sentences for their roles in a failed coup attempt in the Democratic Republic of Congo last year.
The trio was among 37 individuals initially sentenced to death by a military court, but their sentences were commuted to life imprisonment last week.
The failed coup, which targeted the presidential palace and the home of an ally of President Félix Tshisekedi, resulted in the deaths of six individuals, including Christian Malanga, a US national of Congolese origin and the suspected leader of the plot, and Marcel Malanga Malu’s father.
The repatriation was facilitated through a prisoner transfer agreement between the US and DR Congo, with the US Department of State confirming that the three individuals are now in US custody.
This development comes as the US and DR Congo explore a potential deal to exploit the central African country’s vast mineral wealth, including coltan and cobalt deposits, with US President Donald Trump’s senior adviser for Africa recently visiting DR Congo to discuss possible “multibillion-dollar investments” in the country’s mining sector.
