Democratic Republic of Congo repatriates Americans facing life over failed coup

Benjamin Reuben Zalman-Polun, left, Marcel Malanga and Tyler Thompson pictured in Kinshasa in September 2024 (Samy Ntumba Shambuyi/AP)

Three Americans convicted on charges of participating in a botched coup attempt in the Democratic Republic of Congo last year have been repatriated to the United States days after the country commuted their death sentences to life imprisonment, an official said.

The three will serve their sentences in the US following the repatriation done in collaboration with the US embassy, Congolese presidential spokesperson Tina Salama said on X.