Prosecutors seek death penalty for 3 Americans implicated in alleged coup attempt in Congo

From left, Tyler Thompson Jr., Marcel Malanga and Benjamin Reuben Zalman-Polun, all American citizens, face the court in Kinshasa, Congo on June 7, 2024. (Samy Ntumba Shambuyi / AP Photo)

KINSHASA, CONGO — Prosecutors on Tuesday called for 50 people, including three Americans, to face the death penalty for what the Congolese army says was a coup attempt earlier this year.

Military prosecutor Lieutenant Colonel Innocent Radjabu urged the judges to sentence to death all those on trial, except for one defendant who suffers from "psychological problems."

The defendants, whose trial opened in June, face a number of charges, many punishable by death, including terrorism, murder and criminal association.

Six people were killed during the botched coup attempt led by the little-known opposition figure Christian Malanga in May that targeted the presidential palace and a close ally of President Felix Tshisekedi. Malanga was fatally shot for resisting arrest soon after live-streaming the attack on his social media, the Congolese army said.

Malanga's 21-year-old son Marcel Malanga, who is a U.S. citizen, and two other Americans are on trial for their alleged role in the attack. His mother, Brittney Sawyer, has said her son is innocent and simply followed his father, who considered himself president of a shadow government in exile.

Tyler Thompson Jr., 21, flew to Africa from Utah with the younger Malanga for what his family believed was a vacation, with all expenses paid by the elder Malanga. The young men had played high school football together in the Salt Lake City suburbs. Other teammates accused Marcel of offering up to US$100,000 to join him on a "security job" in Congo.

Thompson's family maintains he had no knowledge of the elder Malanga's intentions, no plans for political activism and didn't even plan to enter Congo. He and the Malangas were meant to travel only to South Africa and Eswatini, Thompson's stepmother said.

Benjamin Reuben Zalman-Polun, 36, is the third American on trial. He is reported to have known Christian Malanga through a gold mining company that was set up in Mozambique in 2022, according to an official journal published by Mozambique's government, and a report by the Africa Intelligence newsletter.

Earlier this year, Congo reinstated the death penalty, lifting a more than two-decade-old moratorium, as authorities struggle to curb violence and militant attacks in the country.

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Banchereau reported from Dakar, Senegal.