The president announced that the death sentences of three Americans who were found guilty of taking part in a failed coup attempt in the Democratic Republic of the Congo last year had been commuted to life in prison.
They were among 37 individuals who received death sentences from a military court in September.
The three were charged with organizing an assault on President Félix Tshisekedi’s residence and the presidential palace in May of last year.
The judgments were overturned in advance of Massad Boulos, the recently appointed US senior advisor for Africa, visiting the Democratic Republic of the Congo.
On a tour that will also include stops in Rwanda, Kenya, and Uganda, Boulos, the father-in-law of Tiffany, the daughter of President Donald Trump, is anticipated to land in Kinshasa today, April 3.
The US has not yet proclaimed that the three Americans were unfairly imprisoned in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, but the State Department stated that the two nations have previously discussed the issue.
The three were found guilty of terrorism, criminal conspiracy, and other offenses that they denied.
Five people were killed in the attack, including Christian Malanga, a US citizen of Congolese descent who was suspected of being the plot’s commander.
A total of 51 individuals were tried in a military court, and hearings were aired on national radio and television.
The court determined that 14 individuals had no involvement in the attack and they were acquitted and released.
Convicts who receive the death penalty typically serve life in prison; the death penalty has not been applied in the Democratic Republic of the Congo for about 20 years.
According to a televised statement by his spokesperson Tina Salama, President Tshisekedi signed orders yesterday, April 2, to commute the death sentences of the Americans.
The President gave the three “individual clemency,” according to Salama: Zalman-Polun Benjamin, Tylor Thompson, and Marcel Malanga Malu.
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