Three Americans convicted for their role in a failed coup in Democratic Republic of Congo last year have had their death sentences commuted to life imprisonment, the presidency has said. They were among 37 people sentenced to death last September by a military court.

President Felix Tshisekedi has commuted death sentences handed to three Americans to life imprisonment for involvement in what the army said was a failed coup bid in DR Congo last year, according to an announcement. Marcel Malanga, Tyler Thompson and Benjamin Zalman-Polun are being held in a military prison in the capital, Kinshasa.

The death sentences of three U.S. citizens convicted for their role in a failed coup in Democratic Republic of Congo last year have been commuted to life imprisonment, the presidency said, ahead of a visit by the new U.