Missed coup in the DRC: 03 Americans released and repatriated to the United States

Three American citizens condemned to death for their involvement in the missed coup of May 19, 2024 in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) were released on Tuesday from their prison in Kinshasa, before being transferred to the United States, where they will now purge their sentences.

According to a press release from the Congolese presidency, “Sentenced to death on January 27, 2025 by the Gombe Military Court in Kinshasa for particularly serious acts, Marcel Malanga Malu, Taylor Christa Thompson and Zalman Polun Benjamin Reben saw their sentence commissioned in life imprisonment. They will purge it in their country of origin, in accordance with the decision of the general military auditor. »»

Representatives of the United States Embassy in the DRC have actively participated in the operation, stressing, according to the Congolese presidency, “The quality of bilateral cooperation between the two countries”. This approach is presented as a sign of “Strengthening judicial diplomacy and international collaboration in matters of justice and human rights”.

The three Americans were part of a commando of around forty people, mostly Congolese, who had attacked the home of Vital Kamerhe, then Vice-Prime Minister, now president of the National Assembly. The assault had claimed the lives of two police officers assigned to his security.

The group then stormed the palace of the nation, seat of presidential offices, where they had filmed themselves withdrawing the Congolese flag to hoist that of the Zaire – name of the DRC at the time of Mobutu Sese Seko – while proclaiming the end of the regime of President Félix Tshisekedi.

The rapid intervention of the Republican Guard had made it possible to neutralize the attack: around forty individuals had been arrested, and four others, including their chief Christian Malanga, a Congolese residing in the United States, had been slaughtered.

Last February, under pressure from the European Union and Belgium, the Congolese authorities had already released Jean-Jacques Wondo, Belgo-Congolese military expert designated as the main instigator of the attack.