What’s a coup attempt worth these days? If you’re American, apparently, just your passport! President Felix Tshisekedi of the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) has commuted the death sentences of three U.S. citizens involved in a failed coup attempt last year, changing their sentences to life in prison. The decision was announced on 1 April 2025 by presidential spokesperson Tina Salam, 6 months after the US nationals, along with 34 others, were sentenced to death for “terrorism” and “criminal association.” The commutation came at a telling moment – as Congolese officials work on a minerals agreement with the US, aiming to secure support to combat M23 rebels in the troubled eastern region.
The coup attempt, which occurred last May and was led by relatively unknown opposition figure Christian Malanga, resulted in the deaths of six people. Malanga and a group of armed associates targeted the presidential palace in Kinshasa and a close ally of Tshisekedi. Malanga was shot and killed while trying to evade capture shortly after he broadcast the attack live on social media, according to the Congolese military. Among those convicted for taking part in the coup was Malanga’s 21-year-old son, Marcel Malanga, who is also a US citizen.
Also convicted was Tyler Thompson Jr., 21, a high school friend of the younger Malanga, who claimed to have travelled from the U.S. state of Utah to DR Congo on the assumption that he was going on a free vacation, along with Benjamin Reuben Zalman-Polun, 36, who knew Christian Malanga through a gold mining venture. Most of those found guilty in the rebellion attempt were Congolese, but the group also included individuals from Britain, Belgium, and Canada.
In March 2024, the DRC announced it would resume executions, after a 20-year hiatus. On 5 January 2025, Justice Minister Constant Mutamba said that over 170 people, allegedly linked to criminal gangs known as “Kuluna” or “bandits”, were transferred from Kinshasa to Angenga prison for execution. So how do US coup plotters get life, while poor Congolese accused of banditry face the gallows?
Sources
https://www.cnn.com/2025/04/02/africa/americans-death-sentence-commuted-drc-intl/index.html https://www.amnesty.org/en/latest/news/2025/01/drc-president-tshisekedi-must-halt-plans-to-carry-out-mass-executions/
https://www.newsweek.com/trumps-mineral-deals-could-bring-peace-congo-opinion-2048698