KINSHASA, Congo– Three Americans charged with involvement in last month’s attack Coup attempt in Congo He appeared before a military court in the country’s capital, Kinshasa, on Friday, along with dozens of other defendants who were lined up on plastic chairs before the judge on the first day of the hearing.
The proceedings before the open-air military court were broadcast live on the local television channel.
Six people were killed during the failed coup attempt led by little-known opposition figure Christian Malanga last month that targeted the presidential palace and a close ally of the president. Felix Tshisekedi. Malanga was shot dead for resisting arrest shortly after livestreaming the attack on his social media, the Congolese army said.
The defendants face a series of charges, many of them punishable by death, including terrorism, murder and criminal conspiracy. The court said there were 53 names on the list, but the names of Malanga and another person were removed after the death certificates were submitted.
Malanga’s son, Marcel Malanga, 21, who is a US citizen, and two other Americans are on trial for their alleged role in the attack. The three requested an interpreter to translate the proceedings from French to English.
Malanga’s son was the first to be questioned by the judge, who asked him to confirm his name and other personal information. Apparently, the military officer chosen to translate for him did not understand English well. Eventually, a media journalist was selected to replace him, but he too had trouble translating the numbers and details of the process.
“You are not interpreting well. We need a different interpreter who understands English, please,” Marcel Malanga told the judge after the journalist incorrectly translated his zip code.
But no other translator emerged and the defendants had to settle for the journalist, who worked for the national radio. Malanga seemed frustrated and defiant as the interview progressed.
Tyler Thompson Jr., 21, flew to Africa from Utah with the younger Malanga for what his family believed was a vacation, with all expenses paid for by the older Malanga. The young men had played football together in high school in suburban Salt Lake City. Other teammates accused Marcel of offering up to $100,000 joining him on a “security job” in the Congo.
Thompson appeared in court with a shaved head and skin sores, looking nervous and lost as he confirmed his name and other personal details.
His stepmother, Miranda Thompson, told The Associated Press that the family learned about the hearing too late to organize a trip to the Congo, but hoped to be present at future hearings. Before this week, the family had There is no evidence that he was still alive..
“We are delighted with the confirmation,” he said.
Miranda Thompson was worried that her stepson didn’t even realize that his family knew he had been arrested. On Monday, the U.S. Embassy in Congo told the AP that it had not yet gained access to American prisoners to provide them with consular services before the trial.
The embassy did not immediately respond to a request for comment on Friday.
Thompson’s family maintains that he had no knowledge of Malanga’s father’s intentions, no plans for political activism, and did not even plan to enter the Congo. He and the Malangas were to travel only to South Africa and Eswatini, Thompson’s stepmother said.
Marcel Malanga’s mother, Brittney Sawyer, has said her son is innocent and simply followed his father, who considered himself president of a shadow government in exile. Sawyer and the Thompsons are independently crowdfunding legal expenses and travel funds to be present for the remainder of the trial.
Both families say they remain concerned about their children’s health: Malanga has liver disease and Thompson contracted malaria early in the trip.
“As a mother, my heart cries every day,” Sawyer wrote on her crowdfunding page. “My main goal every day is to bring him home.”
Benjamin Reuben Zalman-Polun, 36, was the third American tried. He was seen sitting in the last row and was the last to be interviewed. He told the court that he was not married and that he had three children. The AP has not been able to reach his family for comment.
Zalman-Polun, who pleaded guilty in 2015 to marijuana trafficking, would have met Christian Malanga through a gold mining company created in Mozambique in 2022, according to an official diary published by the Mozambican government and a report from Africa. Intelligence Bulletin.
A prominent Belgian-Congolese researcher on political and security issues, Jean-Jacques Wondo, also appeared in court on Friday. It was not clear what evidence was against him. Human Rights Watch said it had consulted with Wondo for years about the investigation and that his only link to Malanga appears to be an old photo.
“Wondo and others detained should be credibly charged with a criminal offense or immediately released. An arrest based solely on a 2016 photograph is simply not credible,” Human Rights Watch said in a statement Friday.
The defendants will appear in court again next Friday to continue the trial.
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Donati reported from Dakar, Senegal, and Schoenbaum from Salt Lake City.
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