KINSHASA, April 2 (Xinhua) -- President of the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) Felix Tshisekedi on Tuesday granted a presidential pardon to several coup plotters of American origin, who had been sentenced to death, according to official sources.

Marcel Malanga, born in Utah, United States, and two other Americans who were sentenced to death last September, "will not be executed, as the death penalty is commuted," said Tina Salama, spokesperson for the DRC presidency late Tuesday.

Tshisekedi has ordered the commutation of Marcel Malanga's sentence to life imprisonment, said Salama, adding that the measure also applies to the other American nationals convicted.

Thirty-seven alleged coup plotters were convicted and sentenced to death in September last year by a Kinshasa military court in a trial against the failed coup.

The coup plotters attacked the residence of Vital Kamerhe, then vice-prime minister, before targeting the Palais de la Nation, which houses the offices of President Felix Tshisekedi. Enditem

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