Congo Repatriates 3 Americans Facing Life In Jail Over a Failed Coup Plot, Official Says

The three Americans convicted on charges of participating in a botched coup attempt in Congo last year have been repatriated to the United States days after the country commuted their death sentences to life imprisonment, an official said Tuesday.

The three will serve their sentences in the U.S. following the repatriation done in collaboration with the U.S. Embassy, Congolese presidential spokesperson Tina Salama said on X.

Among them is 21-year-old Marcel Malanga, son of opposition figure Christian Malanga, who led the foiled coup attempt that targeted the presidential palace in Kinshasa.

Also repatriated are Tyler Thompson Jr., 21, a friend of the younger Malanga who flew to Africa from Utah for what his family believed was a free vacation, and Benjamin Reuben Zalman-Polun, 36, who is reported to have known Christian Malanga through a gold mining company.

(AP)