Prosecutors in the Democratic Republic of the Congo have announced their intent to seek the death penalty for 50 individuals involved in a failed coup attempt in May 2024, including three Americans.
Breitbart reported that three U.S. citizens are facing execution in the DRC following a botched coup led by an American citizen who declared himself the president-in-exile.
The unfortunate sequence of events began the morning of May 19, 2024, when Christian Malanga, motivated by political ambitions, led an unsuccessful assault aimed at toppling the current government.
Malanga and his supporters orchestrated attacks on key political figures' residences, including that of President Felix Tshisekedi and Economy Minister Vital Kamerhe in Kinshasa.
The attack was planned to extend to other significant targets but was promptly thwarted by government forces.
Tragically, during the chaotic scenes that unfolded, Malanga, a 41-year-old naturalized American citizen originally from Utah, lost his life. Known for his previous criminal history and a bold declaration as the president-in-exile of a phantom government he called "New Zaire," Malanga had accumulated considerable support both financially and politically within the United States.
Among those ensnared in the judicial proceedings are Malanga's son, Marcel, a former high school athlete, and two other Americans, each with their unique backstories leading up to the incident.
Marcel Malanga had tried to entice his former high school teammates into joining what he described as a "security job" in the Congo, offering an enticing remuneration of up to $100,000.
Another American, Tyler Thompson Jr., 21, found himself drawn into the situation under false pretenses, having been misled to believe that he was embarking on a mere vacation to South Africa and Eswatini.
The shock of finding himself involved in a coup attempt has left his family devastated. Miranda Thompson, relating to her son's involvement, expressed their agony through a statement saying, "We are stunned and heartbroken by the videos we have seen from the coup attempt. He is a good kid, a hard worker, and a respectful young man. We’re so lost as to how he ended up in this mess."
Benjamin Reuben Zalman-Polun, the third American and an acquaintance of Malanga from a gold-mining venture in Mozambique in 2022, similarly contended that he was duped into participating in the coup.
With a past marred by legal troubles over marijuana trafficking in California, Zalman-Polun’s involvement highlights the varied backgrounds and international threads that wove into the coup’s fabric.
The reinstatement of the death penalty in March 2024 by the DRC government was a direct response to rising militant threats, setting a grave legal backdrop for those accused in the aftermath of the coup attempt.
All 50 individuals charged, except one excused for psychological reasons, face this severe sentence.
Additionally, the charges have extended to include Belgian-Congolese Jean-Jacques Wondo, an individual associated with Human Rights Watch, though his connection to Malanga appears tenuous.
The implications of these charges have stirred international concerns regarding human rights and the extensive application of the death penalty.
Meanwhile, back in the United States, the reaction has been muted, with President Joe Biden yet to make a public statement, currently being on vacation as the event unwinds.
The involvement of American citizens in such high-stakes international legal issues, combined with the severe penalty being pursued, brings forth complex diplomatic dynamics that are bound to unfold as the trial progresses.