A court in Belgium has ruled that a former diplomat may face trial over his alleged role in the 1961 killing of Patrice Lumumba, the first prime minister of the Democratic Republic of Congo.
The court’s decision means that Etienne Davignon, who is now 93, can be prosecuted over accusations linked to Lumumba’s detention, transfer, and alleged mistreatment. Davignon was a trainee diplomat at the time of the incident and later rose to become a vice-president of the European Commission.
Davignon is the only surviving individual among the 10 Belgians named in a criminal complaint filed in 2011 by Lumumba’s family.
Lumumba, widely regarded as a hero of Congo’s independence struggle, was executed by a firing squad in 1961, after which his body was reportedly dissolved in acid.
Belgium, which once ruled Congo as a colony, has since acknowledged its responsibility for the circumstances surrounding Lumumba’s death and has issued apologies to both his family and the country now known as the Democratic Republic of the Congo.
Lumumba’s grandson, Mehdi Lumumba, welcomed the Brussels court’s ruling allowing Davignon to stand trial. “We are all relieved,” he told the AFP news agency. “Belgium is finally confronting its history.” The ruling is subject to appeal.
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Lumumba became prime minister in June 1960 when Congo gained independence from Belgium. He quickly emerged as one of the leading figures of Africa’s anti-colonial movement.
Despite granting independence, Belgium reportedly viewed Lumumba as a danger to its economic and political interests in the country.
During a well-known independence day speech delivered in the presence of Belgian officials, including King Baudouin, the then 34-year-old Lumumba criticised colonial rule, declaring that the Congolese had endured “humiliating slavery”.
Later that year, he was removed from power in a coup in September 1960 and captured two months afterward. In January 1961, he and two of his allies were executed with what historians say was the tacit backing of Belgium.
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Although Lumumba consistently denied being a communist, Western powers remained wary of him, suspecting that he might lean toward the Soviet Union during the Cold War.
A 1975 investigation by the United States Senate later revealed that the Central Intelligence Agency had devised a plan to assassinate him. However, the plot was never carried out, and Lumumba was ultimately killed by Congolese forces supported by Belgium.
