World
Ex-Belgian diplomat ordered to stand trial over murder of Congo’s Lumumba
Etienne Davignon, 93, is the only one alive among 10 Belgians accused by the Congolese leader’s family of complicity.
Published On 17 Mar 2026
A 93-year-old former Belgian diplomat has been ordered by a Brussels court to stand trial over the assassination of Congo’s first prime minister and anti-colonial icon, Patrice Lumumba, in 1961.
Lumumba, who became the prime minister of the country – now known as the Democratic Republic of Congo – upon its independence from Belgium on June 24, 1960, was ousted in September of the same year and later killed by a Belgian-backed secessionist rebel group just months later on January 16, 1961.
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But in 2002, a parliamentary investigation found that Belgium was “morally responsible” for Lumumba’s death.
On Tuesday, Etienne Davignon, 93, a former European commissioner who was a junior diplomat at the time, stands trial over his death, marking the first trial related to the murder of Lumumba.
He is also accused of being involved in the murder of Lumumba’s political allies, Maurice Mpolo and Joseph Okito.
According to prosecutors, Davignon, who is accused of war crimes, had participated in the unlawful detention or transfer of Lumumba and deprived him of his right to an impartial trial.
Prosecutors added that Davignon had subjected Lumumba to “humiliating and degrading treatment”.
If the trial goes ahead, Davignon would be the first Belgian official to face the courts in 65 years since the prime minister was killed and his body was dissolved in acid.
While 10 people were accused of being complicit in the murder of Lumumba, Davignon is the only suspect alive.
Lumumba’s family members brought the case, which Belgian federal prosecutors have since taken up.
His granddaughter Yema Lumumba told the Reuters news agency after the ruling that it was a “step in the right direction”.
“What we want is to search for truth and establish different responsibilities,” she added.
The family’s lawyer, Christophe Marchand, also told the AFP news agency that “It’s a gigantic victory”.
“No one believed when we first brought the case in 2011 that Belgium would prove capable of seriously investigating this,” he said, adding: “It’s very hard for a country to judge its own colonial crimes.”
Gold-capped tooth
As African countries pushed for independence from their European rulers in the 1960s, Lumumba rose as an anti-colonial hero, though his government lasted only three months.
At just aged 35, Lumumba was executed in the southern region of Katanga, with the support of Belgian-backed mercenaries.
The only known remains of the killed leader, a single gold-capped tooth, were taken from the daughter of a deceased Belgian officer who was involved in the disappearance of his remains.
During a ceremony in 2022, his remains were returned in a coffin to DRC’s authorities.
During the handover, then Belgian Prime Minister Alexander De Croo reiterated the government’s “apologies” for its “moral responsibility” in Lumumba’s disappearance.
The report also identifies Vietnam as a priority country on the watchlist.
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North Korean dictator Kim Jong Un has publicly praised soldiers who killed themselves rather than be captured while fighting Ukrainian forces in Kursk region, offering the clearest confirmation yet of what officials and intelligence agencies have long described as one of Pyongyang’s most extreme battlefield policies.
In remarks published Monday by North Korean state media KCNA and first reported by Reuters, Kim honored troops who “unhesitatingly chose the path of self-destruction and suicide” rather than surrender, as he addressed Russian officials and bereaved families during a memorial ceremony for North Korean soldiers killed in combat.
“It is not only the heroes who unhesitatingly chose the path of self-destruction and suicide to defend great honor, but also those who fell while charging at the forefront of assault battles,” Kim said.
The comments mark the first time Kim has directly acknowledged the lengths North Korean troops fighting for Russia have gone to in attempts to avoid capture by Ukrainian forces.
BATTERED IN UKRAINE, RUSSIA RACES TO REARM — BUT QUESTIONS LINGER OVER ITS MILITARY STRENGTH
North Korean leader Kim Jong Un attends a photo session with officers and soldiers who participated in the 90th founding anniversary of the Korean People’s Revolutionary Army in North Korea on April 27, 2022. (Korean Central News Agency/Korea News Service)
North Korea deployed an estimated 14,000 troops to Russia’s western Kursk region to support Moscow’s war effort, according to South Korean, Ukrainian and Western officials cited by Reuters. Those same officials say the forces suffered staggering losses, with more than 6,000 North Korean soldiers believed killed in some of the war’s most intense fighting.
For months, intelligence reports, battlefield evidence and defector testimony have pointed to a grim directive: North Korean troops were expected to detonate grenades or otherwise take their own lives rather than risk capture.
Russia’s President Vladimir Putin and North Korea’s leader Kim Jong Un pose for a photo during a signing ceremony following bilateral talks in Pyongyang, North Korea, June 19, 2024. (Sputnik/Kristina Kormilitsyna/Kremlin via REUTERS)
That policy appears to have extended even to the few who survived. According to The Guardian, two North Korean soldiers captured by Ukrainian forces and now held as prisoners of war in Kyiv both reportedly attempted to blow themselves up but were unable to do so because of severe injuries. One of the captured soldiers has reportedly expressed guilt over failing to carry out those orders.
NORTH KOREA VOWS ‘TOUGHEST’ US POLICY IN VAGUE ANNOUNCEMENT
North Korean troops train with Russian instructors to clear mines in the heavily contaminated Kursk region, according to Russian Defense Ministry footage. (East to West News Agency)
Kim’s latest speech appears to transform those reports from battlefield allegations into publicly praised state doctrine.
“Those who writhed in frustration at failing to fulfill their duty as soldiers rather than suffering the agony of their bodies being torn apart by bullets and shells — these too can be called the party’s loyal warriors and patriots,” Kim added.
The statement underscores the ideological intensity imposed on North Korean forces, whose loyalty to the regime appears to extend beyond combat to self-destruction.
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North Korean troops sweep minefields left behind in the Kursk region after months of fighting. (East to West News Agency)
The revelation also highlights the deepening military relationship between Pyongyang and Moscow.
According to South Korean intelligence assessments, North Korea has provided not only troops but also munitions to Russia, while receiving economic aid and military technology in return.
Reuters contributed to this report.
Published on
A 33-year-old man will appear in court next week after he was detained on suspicion of plotting an attack on two Dutch princesses, prosecutors said on Friday.
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According to details in a court scheduling order published on the website of The Hague Public Prosecutor’s Office, the man is suspected of preparing an attack on the 22-year-old heir to the Dutch throne, Princess Amalia, and her 20-year-old sister, Princess Alexia, in The Hague in February.
“The suspect was allegedly in possession of two axes in early February with the words ‘Alexia,’ ‘Mossad’ and ‘Sieg Heil’ carved into them, and he allegedly had a handwritten sheet with the words ‘Amalia,’ ‘Alexia’ and ‘Bloodbath,’” the scheduling order said.
A spokesman for The Hague public prosecutor’s office declined to provide further details on the case ahead of Monday’s procedural hearing.
It was not clear where or when the man was arrested. The suspect’s name was not released, in line with Dutch privacy regulations.
The Royal House did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Princess Amalia has faced threats before. The heir to the Dutch throne was forced in 2022 to give up Amsterdam’s student life and live at her parents’ palace due to threats believed to come from the criminal underworld.
Queen Maxima said at the time that Amalia “can’t leave home” and that it has “enormous consequences for her life.”
The eldest of the three Dutch princesses subsequently spent several months living in Madrid and later honoured the Spanish capital and its citizens for their hospitality by opening a tulip garden there.
In 2020, a man was convicted of threatening the princess and of sending threats via Instagram to the then-16-year-old Amalia and one of her friends.
Additional sources • AP
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