The Democratic Republic of Congo has commuted the death sentences of three U.S. citizens convicted for their involvement in a failed coup last year to life imprisonment. The decision comes ahead of a diplomatic visit by Massad Boulos, the newly appointed U.S. senior advisor for Africa.
The three Americans—Marcel Malanga, Tyler Thompson, and Benjamin Zalman-Polun—were among 50 people, including citizens from the U.S., Britain, Canada, Belgium, and Congo, who were tried following the failed coup attempt in May. In September, a military court sentenced 37 defendants, including the Americans, to death for charges of criminal conspiracy, terrorism, and other offenses.
All three men denied wrongdoing and unsuccessfully appealed the verdict. However, Congo’s justice ministry recommended a pardon, which the public prosecutor submitted to President Félix Tshisekedi. On Tuesday, the president signed orders commuting their sentences to life imprisonment, his spokesperson Tina Salama announced on national television.
“This presidential pardon marks a first step toward significant changes in the future,” said Ckiness Ciamba, a lawyer representing Marcel Malanga. Representatives for Zalman-Polun and Malanga’s relatives did not immediately comment, and Thompson’s parents declined to speak on the record.
Marcel Malanga is the son of U.S.-based Congolese politician Christian Malanga, who led the armed group that briefly occupied a presidential office in Kinshasa on May 19 before he was killed by security forces. Tyler Thompson, a high school friend of Malanga from Utah, and Zalman-Polun, a business associate of Christian Malanga, were also involved.
The commutation comes just ahead of Boulos’s visit to Congo, Rwanda, Kenya, and Uganda starting April 3. Boulos, who is the father-in-law of U.S. President Donald Trump’s daughter Tiffany, aims to advance peace efforts in eastern Congo, where a Rwanda-backed rebellion continues, and to promote U.S. private sector investments in the region.
The decision is seen as a gesture to strengthen U.S.-Congo relations amid ongoing regional instability.
