Three American citizens who had been sentenced to death over a failed coup attempt in the Democratic Republic of Congo were sent back to the United States on Tuesday, according to a spokeswoman for the Congolese presidency.
The American men were among 37 people sentenced to death seven months ago for participating in a May 2024 attack on Congo’s government that included a gunfight near the presidential palace. Congo’s presidency said last week that the three Americans — Marcel Malanga, Tyler Thompson and Benjamin Zalman-Polun — were granted individual clemency and had their death sentences commuted to life imprisonment.
The Congolese presidency’s spokeswoman, Tina Salama, posted photographs of them boarding a plane on Tuesday. She said that the plane was bound for the United States, where the three men would serve their sentences.
Tammy Bruce, a State Department spokeswoman, confirmed on Tuesday that the three men had been transferred, telling a news conference that “they’re in our custody.” But there was no comment from the Justice Department as of Wednesday about where, how, or if the men would serve their sentences in the United States.
The repatriation of the three men came days after an American delegation met with Congo’s president, Felix Tshisekedi, in his country’s capital, Kinshasa.
Mr. Tshisekedi has offered the United States a stake in his country’s vast mineral wealth as his government battles an armed rebellion that has captured large portions of territory in eastern Congo.
Depleted Congolese forces have so far been unable to mount an effective counteroffensive against the armed group, M23, which is backed by Rwanda.
Massad Boulos, President Trump’s senior adviser for Africa, said last week during his trip to Congo that the United States and Congo would work on an agreement about minerals, without offering further details.
Congo holds large reserves of materials and minerals — including cobalt, tin, tantalum and lithium — that the United States has deemed critical for transitioning toward renewable energy. In Congo, China dominates that sector.
Mr. Trump’s special envoy for hostages, Adam Boehler, had linked the conflict in eastern Congo to the fate of the three American men.
“The President of Congo is holding 3 Americans now,” Mr. Boehler wrote on X in February. “Perhaps it would be better if Rwanda won the war?”
The Congolese authorities said they had foiled a coup attempt last May after a gunfight erupted near the presidential palace and armed men briefly occupied an office of the presidency. Security forces killed the coup leader, Christian Malanga, a Congolese politician who ran a minor opposition party and had streamed the attack live.
Mr. Malanga’s American son, Marcel Malanga, has denied involvement in planning the coup. He said that he and Mr. Thompson, a high school friend, were forced to join in while visiting his father. The third American citizen, Mr. Zalman-Polun, was a business associate of Christian Malanga’s.
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