DR Congo President reduces death sentences of three Americans to life imprisonment

The president of the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), President Felix Tshisekedi has commuted the death sentences of three Americans convicted of attempting a coup, reducing their punishment to life imprisonment.

This decision comes just days before US government officials are set to visit the central African nation.

The Americans—Marcel Malanga, Tyler Thompson Jr., and Benjamin Reuben Zalman-Polun—were among 37 individuals sentenced to death by a military court in September.

They were convicted for their roles in the failed coup attempt led by Malanga’s father, Christian Malanga.

The putschists had targeted the presidential palace and the residence of Congolese politician Vital Kamerhe in an effort to overthrow the government in May 2024.

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At least six people, including Christian Malanga, an opposition politician who livestreamed the coup attempt, were killed in a gunfight with presidential guards.

Tshisekedi granted clemency to the three Americans in a presidential order read on national television late Tuesday, his spokesperson Tina Salama told CNN.

“The clemency petition was filed by the public prosecutor, and it was on the recommendation of the Minister of Justice,” Salama said.

Salama emphasised that the decision was not intended to appease the US, despite ongoing discussions about a minerals-for-security partnership between the two nations.

“We have no deal with the Americans at this stage on any American intervention,” she stated.

Meanwhile, the new US Senior Adviser for Africa, Massad Boulos, and Deputy Assistant Secretary of State for African Affairs, Corina Sanders, are scheduled to visit the DRC on Thursday.

The State Department announced that their visit aims to “advance efforts for durable peace in eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo and to promote US private sector investment in the region.”

Their diplomatic mission also includes stops in neighboring Rwanda, Uganda, and Kenya.

(CNN)

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