Fugitive ex-official implicates Mexican ex-president, others in tale spun of student disappearances

MEXICO CITY (AP) — A former head of investigations for Mexico’s Attorney General’s Office told officials investigating the 2014 disappearance of 43 students that the so-called “historic truth” presented to the public weeks later was cooked up by the highest ranking authorities in the government during meetings presided over by then-President Enrique Peña Nieto, a Mexican news outlet reported Monday.

Tomás Zerón, a fugitive now in Israel beyond the reach of Mexican law enforcement, told investigators that the president and members of his security Cabinet were present, the independent journalism collective Fabrica de Periodismo reported.

It quoted from Zerón’s answers to a lengthy questionnaire sent to him in 2022 by Mexico’s top human rights official at the time, Alejandro Encinas, which was released under a freedom of information request.

The “historic truth” version contended the students were turned over by local police to a drug gang in the city of Iguala. The gang purportedly killed the students, incinerated their bodies at a dump in nearby Cocula and tossed the remains into a river.

Subsequent investigations by independent experts and the Attorney General’s Office, and corroborated by the Truth Commission established for the case, have since dismissed the idea the bodies were burned at the dump.

A local drug gang was indeed involved, they determined, but the Truth Commission also believes corrupt members of Mexico's military as well as police at all levels were, too.

Encinas, the human rights official, previously referred to high-level meetings of officials to discuss the “historic truth” version, but without identifying all of those present.

According to Zerón, the meetings were attended by the president as well as his security Cabinet and then-Attorney General Jesús Murillo Karam. Murillo Karam has been credited with calling the explanation of the students’ disappearance the “historic truth” and has been under house arrest awaiting trial. Peña Nieto now lives in Spain.

Zerón, who is accused of torture and forced disappearance, did not provide any detail on Peña Nieto’s involvement other than to say he was at the meetings.

Encinas, who resigned from his post last year, has said he offered Zerón a deal for his cooperation in the investigation.

Asked about the case Monday, President Andrés Manuel López Obrador said Zerón should turn himself in.

“It would help a lot if he would come to make a statement and take responsibility,” the president said.

López Obrador was scheduled to meet with families of the missing students Tuesday, the last time before he leaves office at the end of September.

Families of the missing students made their monthly march for justice in the capital on Monday.

Classmates of the 43 Ayotzinapa students who went missing almost 10 years ago march to demand justice for their loved ones in Mexico City, Monday, Aug. 26, 2024. (AP Photo/Felix Marquez)

Classmates of the 43 Ayotzinapa students who went missing almost 10 years ago march to demand justice for their loved ones in Mexico City, Monday, Aug. 26, 2024. (AP Photo/Felix Marquez)

Relatives of the 43 Ayotzinapa students who went missing almost 10 years ago march to demand justice for their loved ones in Mexico City, Monday, Aug. 26, 2024. (AP Photo/Felix Marquez)

Classmates of the 43 Ayotzinapa students who went missing almost 10 years ago march to demand justice for their loved ones in Mexico City, Monday, Aug. 26, 2024. (AP Photo/Felix Marquez)

Relatives of the 43 Ayotzinapa students who went missing almost 10 years ago march to demand justice for their loved ones in Mexico City, Monday, Aug. 26, 2024. (AP Photo/Felix Marquez)

A woman shouts out slogans in support of the 43 Ayotzinapa students who went missing almost 10 years ago march to demand justice for their loved ones in Mexico City, Monday, Aug. 26, 2024. (AP Photo/Felix Marquez)

Relatives of the 43 Ayotzinapa students who went missing almost 10 years ago march to demand justice for their loved ones in Mexico City, Monday, Aug. 26, 2024. (AP Photo/Felix Marquez)

Classmates of the 43 Ayotzinapa students who went missing almost 10 years ago march to demand justice for their loved ones in Mexico City, Monday, Aug. 26, 2024. (AP Photo/Felix Marquez)

Classmates of the 43 Ayotzinapa students who went missing almost 10 years ago march to demand justice for their loved ones in Mexico City, Monday, Aug. 26, 2024. (AP Photo/Felix Marquez)

KINSHASA, Congo (AP) — A military court in Congo handed down death sentences Friday to 37 people, including three Americans, after convicting them on charges of participating in a coup attempt.

The defendants, most of them Congolese but also including a Briton, Belgian and Canadian, have five days to appeal the verdict on charges that included attempted coup, terrorism and criminal association. Fourteen people were acquitted in the trial, which opened in June.

The court convicted the 37 defendants and imposed “the harshest penalty, that of death” in the verdict delivered by the presiding judge, Maj. Freddy Ehuma, at an open-air military court proceeding that was broadcast live on TV. The three Americans, wearing blue and yellow prison clothes and sitting in plastic chairs, appeared stoic as a translator explained their sentence.

Richard Bondo, the lawyer who defended the six foreigners, said he disputed whether the death penalty could currently be imposed in Congo, despite its reinstatement earlier this year, and said his clients had inadequate interpreters during the investigation of the case.

"We will challenge this decision on appeal,” Bondo said.

Six people were killed during the botched coup attempt led by the little-known opposition figure Christian Malanga in May that targeted the presidential palace and a close ally of President Felix Tshisekedi. Malanga was fatally shot while resisting arrest soon after live-streaming the attack on his social media, the Congolese army said.

Malanga’s 21-year-old son Marcel Malanga, who is a U.S. citizen, and two other Americans were convicted in the the attack. His mother, Brittney Sawyer, has said her son is innocent and was simply following his father, who considered himself president of a shadow government in exile.

In the months since her son's arrest, Sawyer has declined multiple interview requests and has focused her energy on fundraising to send Marcel money for food, hygiene products and a bed. He has been sleeping on the floor of his prison cell and is suffering from a liver disease, she said.

The other Americans were Tyler Thompson Jr., 21, who flew to Africa from Utah with the younger Malanga for what his family believed was a vacation, and Benjamin Reuben Zalman-Polun, 36, who is reported to have known Christian Malanga through a gold mining company. The company was set up in Mozambique in 2022, according to an official journal published by Mozambique’s government, and a report by the Africa Intelligence newsletter.

U.S. State Department spokesman Matthew Miller told reporters in Washington on Friday that the federal government was aware of the verdict.

“We understand that the legal process in the DRC allows for defendants to appeal the court’s decision," Miller said. "Embassy staff have been attending these proceedings as they’ve gone through the process. We continue to attend the proceedings and follow the developments closely.”

Thompson had been invited on an Africa trip by the younger Malanga, his former high school football teammate in a Salt Lake City suburb. But the itinerary might have included more than sightseeing. Other teammates alleged that Marcel had offered up to $100,000 to join him on a “security job” in Congo.

Thompson’s family maintains he had no knowledge of the elder Malanga’s intentions, no plans for political activism and didn’t even plan to enter Congo. He and the Malangas were meant to travel only to South Africa and Eswatini, his stepmother, Miranda Thompson, told The Associated Press in May.

The Thompsons have been working with a lawyer in their home state of Utah to urge the U.S. government to intervene. The offices of Utah's U.S. Sens. Mitt Romney and Mike Lee did not immediately respond to requests for comment Friday.

Last month, the military prosecutor, Lt. Col. Innocent Radjabu. called on the judges to sentence to death all of the defendants, except for one who suffers from “psychological problems.”

Earlier this year, Congo reinstated the death penalty, lifting a more than two-decade-old moratorium, as authorities struggle to curb violence and militant attacks in the country.

Schoenbaum reported from Salt Lake City. Associated Press writer Matthew Lee contributed from Washington.

Tyler Thompson, left, Marcel Malanga and Benjamin Reuben Zalman-Polun, all American citizens, attend a court verdict in Congo, Kinshasa, Friday Sept .13, 2024, on charges of taking part in a coup attempt in May 2024. (AP Photo/Samy Ntumba Shambuyi)

America Marcel Malanga attends a court verdict in Congo, Kinshasa, Friday Sept .13, 2024, on charges of taking part in a coup attempt in May 2024. (AP Photo/Samy Ntumba Shambuyi)

America Tyler Thompson attends a court verdict in Congo, Kinshasa, Friday Sept .13, 2024, on charges of taking part in a coup attempt in May 2024. (AP Photo/Samy Ntumba Shambuyi)

American Tyler Thompson arrives for a court verdict in Congo, Kinshasa, Friday Sept .13, 2024, on charges of taking part in a coup attempt in May 2024. (AP Photo/Samy Ntumba Shambuyi)

Tyler Thompson, left, Marcel Malanga and Benjamin Reuben Zalman-Polun, all American citizens, attend a court verdict in Congo, Kinshasa, Friday Sept .13, 2024, on charges of taking part in a coup attempt in May 2024. (AP Photo/Samy Ntumba Shambuyi)

American Marcel Malanga arrives for a court verdict in Congo, Kinshasa, Friday Sept .13, 2024, on charges of taking part in a coup attempt in May 2024. (AP Photo/Samy Ntumba Shambuyi)

Back row, Tyler Thompson, 2nd left, Marcel Malanga, center, and Benjamin Reuben Zalman-Polun, 2nd right, all American citizens, attend a court verdict in Congo, Kinshasa, Friday Sept .13, 2024, on charges of taking part in a coup attempt in May 2024. (AP Photo/Samy Ntumba Shambuyi)

American Marcel Malanga, fourth right, stands with others during a court verdict in Congo, Kinshasa, Friday Sept .13, 2024, on charges of taking part in a coup attempt in May 2024. (AP Photo/Samy Ntumba Shambuyi)

FILE - From left T,yler Thompson Jr, Marcel Malanga and Benjamin Reuben Zalman-Polun, all American citizens, face the court in Kinshasa with 52 other defendants on June 7, 2024, accused of a role in last month's attempted coup in Congo led by little-known opposition figure Christian Malanga in which six people were killed. (AP Photo/Samy Ntumba Shambuyi)