European arrested for contributing to armed coup in Central African Republic.

Prosecutors in the Central African Republic have arrested a European employee of a US non-governmental organization (NGO) on suspicion of espionage and communicating with an armed group planning a coup.

Martin Joseph Figueira, having dual Belgian and Portuguese nationality and working as a consultant for the American NGO FHI360, was arrested on May 25 for threatening the country's national security, the prosecutor said in a televised statement.

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His arrest was confirmed on Saturday by the Portuguese Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

A ministry spokesperson said Figueira “was arrested on suspicion of being involved in a plot against the regime.”

“The Portuguese government is following the case, the number 2 of the embassy in Kinshasa (the capital of the neighboring Democratic Republic of Congo) visited this citizen yesterday, as well as the honorary consul of the Central African Republic,” indicated the spokesperson.

“We also know that he was interviewed (by the authorities). We are awaiting developments in this matter.”

France left CAF in 2022

Some 1,600 French soldiers have been deployed in recent years to the Central African Republic (CAF), under the pretext of helping to maintain “peace” after violent intercommunal bloodshed in 2013. But French troops were forced to leave, and The last troops of the French Operation Sangaris left in December 2022.

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Last month, three US citizens were arrested alongside 50 others following a failed armed coup in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC).

The spokesperson for a parliamentarian whose residence was attacked by the militia confirmed that the leader of the attempted coup was US-based Congolese politician Christian Malanga and that he had was killed during clashes with security forces.

American Ambassador Lucy Tamlyn then declared herself “very concerned” by reports according to which American citizens were involved in this deadly event.

“Please be assured that we will fully cooperate with DRC authorities as they investigate these criminal acts and will hold accountable any U.S. citizen involved in criminal acts,” Tamlyn said.

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