Three U.S. citizens, one of whom is Jewish, are facing the death penalty for their role in a failed coup this spring in Democratic Republic of Congo.
The three men are among 37 people sentenced to death last week by a military tribunal in the central African nation for participating in the bungled May 19 attempt to overthrow the government.
The leader of the armed group, a Congolese political exile and longtime U.S. resident, was among six people shot dead during the thwarted attack, parts of which were livestreamed.
Congolese security forces subsequently caught the three Americans, along with dozens of others, on the banks of the nearby Congo River, trying to flee the presidential complex.
The three American citizens testified that their statements had been extracted under duress, and without the presence of an interpreter.
The convicted Jewish man, a father of three, has been identified as Benjamin Reuben Zalman-Polun of the Washington, D.C., area
Zalman-Polun, who was reportedly a business associate of the ringleader of the coup, had been a past member of a Reform synagogue in the U.S. capital, the Washington Hebrew Congregation, before relocating to South Africa with his family several years ago.
Lucy Tamlyn, the U.S. Ambassador to the Democratic Republic of the Congo, immediately condemned the coup and the involvement of American citizens.
“I am shocked by the events of this morning and deeply concerned by reports of U.S. citizens allegedly being involved,” Tamlyn tweeted back in May. “Please be assured that we will cooperate with DRC authorities to the fullest extent possible as they investigate these criminal acts and hold accountable any US citizens implicated in criminal acts.”
The death penalty was reinstated in the African country earlier this year.
The men are expected to appeal their sentencing this week.
