93-year-old former Belgian diplomat to stand trial in murder of Congo’s first prime minister in over 60 years

Former Belgian diplomat Etienne Davignon, now 93, will stand trial on charges of murdering Patrice Lumumba, the first prime minister of independent Congo, in 1961. This was reported by the Guardian and the Financial Times.

Davignon is the only one alive among the 10 Belgians whom Lumumba’s family believes were involved in the politician’s murder. He is accused of participating in war crimes, but the court adopted a broader decision than the prosecutor proposed, and ordered to investigate the murders of Lumumba’s associates – Maurice Mpolo and Joseph Okito, who died with him.

Lawyers for the Lumumba family called this decision a “historic precedent” in the investigation of crimes committed during the period of European colonialism.

Lumumba became the first prime minister of the Democratic Republic of the Congo after it gained independence from Belgium in 1960.

The 35-year-old Lumumba was tortured and shot in January 1961 along with his associates – politicians Okito and Mpolo. The murder was carried out by separatists in the Katanga region, whose actions were supported by the Belgian government, which sent mercenaries and diplomats to the Congo, including 28-year-old trainee diplomat Davignon.

In 2011, Lumumba’s son accused 10 Belgian citizens of killing his father. Later, other members of the family of the first leader of the Congo joined the lawsuit against the former diplomat.

“The fact that so much time has passed does not mean that we will never know the truth. It is very important that the Belgian legal system begins to answer for what happened in colonial times,” said the granddaughter of the murdered Congolese Prime Minister Yema Lumumba.