Congo repatriated 3 Americans who had been sentenced to death sentences on a faulty coup

Lagos, Nigeria (AP) – The three Americans were found guilty Participate in a sloppy coup attempt In Congo, last year, the United States was repatriated, a few days after its death sentences were commissioned from life imprisonment, the Congo presidency announced on Tuesday.

The three will purge their sorrows for life in the United States after the repatriation carried out in collaboration with the United States Embassy, ​​said Congolese spokesperson Tina Salama. The presidency said the Americans left on Tuesday morning. Experts in international law say it is unlikely that the United States will shorten its sentences.

The State Department said that he was aware of their transfer to police custody and referred questions to the Ministry of Justice. The Associated Press sent an email to the Doj.

Among the three Americans were Marcel Malanga, 21, son of the opposition figure Christian Malanga, who led the thwarted coup attempt targeting 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. Marcel Malanga said that his father had forced her to participate.

Also repatriated were Tyler Thompson Jr.21 years old, a friend of the young Malanga who flew to Utah Africa for his family believed to be a free vacationAnd Benjamin Reuben Zalman-Polun, 36, who would have known Christian Malanga through a gold exploitation company.

The news of their repatriation has brought joy to their 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.”

Thompson’s lawyer Skye Lazaro said on Tuesday that she had limited information about what his status would be once he landed in the United States. She said that she planned to continue all the available legal avenues concerning her detention in the United States

When the United States assumes custody of prisoners sentenced abroad, it generally agrees to proceed with the imprisonment designated by this country.

Advocates of repatriated Americans could try to reduce their sorrows by arguing that they had signed their consent to the Treaty of Prisoners under Dress, said Jared Gens, an international human rights lawyer based in the United States.

“But it would be very difficult to prevail in one case that there would be huge implications for other potential transfers in the future if the United States did not comply with such agreements,” said Genser.

The repatriation came in the middle 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 rebels in the east of the country of the country.

US President Donald Trump, Africa’s main advisor last week confirmed that countries were in talks On the issue and said it could involve “investments of several billion dollars”. The United States has estimated that the Congo has billions of dollars of mineral wealth, a 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 convicted after the coup attempt, a majority of them Congolese but also a Briton, 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 2 decades, while the authorities find it difficult to limit violence and militant attacks.

Last year, family members said that men were sleeping on the ground in a high -security military prison in Kinshasa, struggling with health problems and paying food and hygiene products.

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Schoenbaum reported to Salt Lake City. Matthew Lee in Washington contributed to this report.