A preliminary court in Brussels has ordered the trial of former Belgian diplomat Étienne Davignon, aged 93, suspected of involvement in the assassination of Patrice Lumumba, the first Prime Minister of independent Congo, in 1961.
Davignon is the only living person among ten Belgians accused by Lumumba's family of participating in the assassination process, and he has been charged with complicity in war crimes. The decision by the Brussels court comes after a surprise referral from the Brussels Public Prosecutor's Office last summer and can be appealed.
The prosecutor has attributed three charges related to war crimes to the accused, according to information from the preliminary court in Brussels: the illegal transfer of the perpetrators — Lumumba and his entourage — from Léopoldville (now Kinshasa) to Katanga, degrading treatment of the victims, and denying them a fair trial. The court's decision also extends to Lumumba's companions Maurice Mpolo and Joseph Okito, who were killed alongside him.
The Lumumba family welcomed the decision, describing part of it as “an important step.” Yema Lumumba, the granddaughter of the slain leader, told reporters that the passage of time does not mean that the truth is suppressed, stressing the importance of the Belgian legal system confronting its responsibilities related to the colonial period.
Family lawyers described the decision as a historic precedent in criminal justice for crimes alleged to have been committed under European colonial rule. Christophe Marchand, a lawyer for the family, stated that the decision affirms that the passage of time does not erase legal responsibility for the most heinous crimes.
Davignon, who later held high political and business positions including Vice President of the European Commission, has denied the charges against him. He arrived in what was then known as Belgian Congo at the age of 28 as a diplomatic trainee on the eve of independence in 1960. Davignon did not attend the court session at the Palace of Justice in Brussels.
His lawyer, Johan Verbist, told The Guardian that it is too early to comment on the decision, but the possibility of an appeal will be considered. Verbist denied the war crimes charges during a closed session in January, stating that a reasonable amount of time has passed to judge the case, according to Belgian media reports.
A parliamentary committee in 2001 concluded that Belgian ministers bear moral responsibility for the events leading to Lumumba’s brutal death. In 2022, Belgium returned to the Lumumba family a gold-capped tooth that one of the suspected Belgians had kept as a macabre souvenir. The then Belgian Prime Minister Alexander De Croo acknowledged the moral responsibility of his country during the tooth’s handover ceremony, saying that Belgian officials should have realized that Lumumba’s transfer to Katanga endangered his life and that he should have been warned and any assistance in his transfer refused.
Family lawyers believe that if any appeal is unsuccessful, the trial could begin in January 2027. Supporters of the family among experts indicate that this case could be the first criminal trial addressing the responsibility of a person acting on behalf of the state in a political assassination case from the colonial era.