The three Americans condemned for participating in An attempted coup d’etat in Congo Last year was repatriated to the United States, a few days after Their death row inmates were commissioned In life imprisonment, the Congo presidency said on Tuesday.
The three will purge their sorrows in the United States after the repatriation carried out in collaboration with the American Embassy, Congolese presidential spokesperson Tina Salama said on x.
Federal prosecutors inserted a criminal complaint in the UTAH district on Wednesday, accusing the three defendants – Marcel Malaga, 22; Tyler Thompson, 22 years old; And Benjamin Zalman -Polun, 37 years old – and a fourth man, Joseph Peter Messer, 67, with multiple accusations related to the conspiracy to illegally make a coup in the Democratic Republic of Congo.
Malanga, Thompson and Zalman-Polun will make their first appearance before the Federal Court in Brooklyn, the Ministry of Justice said in a declaration. Other legal proceedings should take place in Salt Lake City, Utah. Messer is expected to appear on April 10 at the Federal Justice Palace in Salt Lake City.
The State Department said that he was aware of their transfer to police custody and referred questions to the Ministry of Justice.
“They are under our custody and we also strongly condemn the armed attacks of May 19 and support the authorities of the DRC by holding the officials in an appropriate manner,” the spokesman for the State Department, Tammy Bruce said on Tuesday. “At the same time, we are looking for a coherent, compassionate and human treatment and a fair legal process in the name of these American citizens.”
Samy Ntumba Shambuyi / AP
Malanga is the son of the opposition figure Christian Malanga, who led the attempted coupled coup who targeted the presidential palace in Kinshasa. The eldest Malanga, who was broadcast live from the palace during the attempt, was then killed while he resides at the arrest, the Congolese authorities said.
Malanga, who declared himself “president of New Zaire”, was a rich businessman and former captain of the Congolese army. He defended the elections in 2011 but was arrested and held for several weeks. Marcel Malanga said that his father had forced her to participate in the attempted sloppy coup who killed six people.
Thompson, a friend of the young Malanga, who flew to Utah Africa, stolen from Utah Africa for what his family believed to be free vacation, and Zalman-Polun, who would have known Christian Malanga through a gold extraction company.
The news of their repatriation has brought joy to families. Thompson’s stepmother Miranda Thompson told AP that they did not have all the details on the return, “but we are delighted to have it again on American soil.”
Forgiveness and repatriation came in the midst of the efforts of the Congolese authorities to sign a mineral agreement with the United States in exchange for security support which will help Kinshasa fight the rebels in the East to the east of the country.
Rick Bowmer / AP 
The release of American citizens occurs a week after the State Department announced that it has appointed Massad Boulos As a main advisor for Africa. Boulos went to the Democratic Republic of Congo on April 3 and met government officials and business leaders “to advance sustainable peace efforts” and “promote American investments in the private sector in the region”, according to the Bruce office.
Boulos last week confirmed that countries were in talks on the issue and said it could involve “investments of several billion dollars”. The United States estimated that the Congo has dollar billions wealtha large unexploited part.
“This decision is part of a dynamic of strengthening judicial diplomacy and international cooperation in matters of justice and human rights between the two countries,” the presidency of the Congo said on Tuesday.
Dozens of others were sentenced after the coup attempt, a majority of them Congolese but also a British, a Belgian and a Canadian. The accusations included terrorism, murder, the criminal association and the illegal possession of arms.
The fate of others was not immediately clear.
The Congo had restored the death penalty last year, raising a moratorium of more than two decades, while the authorities are fighting to curb violence and militant attacks.
Last year, family members said men were sleeping on the ground in a high security military prison in KinshasaFighting with health problems and paying food and hygiene products.
