DRC commutes death sentences for US citizens in failed coup

The death sentences of three US citizens convicted for their role in a failed coup in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) last year have been commuted to life imprisonment, the presidency said before a visit by the new US senior adviser for Africa.

The Americans were among about 50 people, including US, British, Canadian, Belgian and Congolese citizens, who stood trial last year after the botched attempt to overthrow the government in May.

A total of 37 defendants were sentenced to death by a military court in September, including US citizens Marcel Malanga, Tyler Thompson and Benjamin Zalman-Polun.

All three were found guilty of criminal conspiracy, terrorism and other charges.

They denied any wrongdoing and unsuccessfully appealed against the verdict. The DRC's justice ministry then proposed a pardon, which the public prosecutor requested from the Presidency.

President Felix Tshisekedi on Tuesday signed three orders to commute their sentences to life in prison, his spokesperson Tina Salama said on national TV.

“This presidential pardon is a first step that promises major changes in the future,” one of Malanga's lawyers, Ckiness Ciamba, said by telephone.

Relatives of Malanga and a lawyer for Zalman-Polun did not immediately respond to requests for comment. Thompson's parents declined to speak on the record.

Marcel Malanga is the son of US-based DRC politician Christian Malanga, who led the armed men who briefly occupied an office of the Presidency in the capital Kinshasa on May 19 before security forces killed him.

Thompson is a friend of Marcel Malanga who played high school football with him in Utah. Both are in their 20s. Zalman-Polun was a business associate of Christian Malanga.

Their sentences were commuted before a trip to the DRC by newly appointed US senior adviser for Africa Massad Boulos.

Boulos, the father-in-law of US President Donald Trump's daughter Tiffany, will travel to the DRC, Rwanda, Kenya and Uganda from April 3, the state department said on Tuesday. He will seek to advance efforts for peace in east DRC, where a Rwanda-backed rebellion is raging, and promote US private sector investment in the region.

Reuters