The image shows a Belgian diplomat speaking with Congolese people amid Lumumba’s 1961 murder trial.
In a landmark ruling that has reverberated across Africa and Europe, a Brussels court has ordered 93-year-old former Belgian diplomat Etienne Davignon to stand trial for war crimes linked to the 1961 assassination of Congo’s first prime minister, Patrice Lumumba. Davignon is the sole survivor of ten officials accused by the Congolese leader’s family of complicity in the brutal killing and the degrading treatment that preceded it. Lumumba was killed at 35 by Belgian-backed forces after being ousted just months into Congolese independence, his body dissolved in acid. Davignon denies the charges, arguing the case is too old to prosecute. Still, the ruling is seen as historic, offering Lumumba’s family a long-awaited chance for accountability and reopening debate over colonial-era crimes and justice.
DW