A Brussels court ruled Tuesday that Etienne Davignon, a 93-year-old former Belgian diplomat, must stand trial on war crimes charges tied to the 1961 assassination of Patrice Lumumba, the first prime minister of the Democratic Republic of Congo.
Davignon, who later served as a vice president of the European Commission, was one of ten Belgians accused by Lumumba’s family of complicity in the murder. The other nine suspects have died, leaving Davignon the only surviving accused. If convicted, he would be the first Belgian official in more than six decades to be held accountable for Lumumba’s death.
“Belgium is finally confronting its history,” said Mehdi Lumumba, the slain leader’s grandson.
Prosecutors allege Davignon was involved in Lumumba’s unlawful detention, transfer, and denial of an impartial trial, and that he subjected Lumumba to humiliating and degrading treatment. Davignon’s lawyers deny the charges and say the events are too remote to be prosecuted.
Lumumba was 35 when he was killed. He rose to power when Congo gained independence from Belgium in 1960 but was ousted months later and killed by secessionist forces in the Katanga region that were backed by Belgian interests. After his death his body was dissolved in acid and never recovered.
At the time of the assassination, Davignon was a young diplomat involved in negotiations around Congolese independence. Lumumba’s family lawyer described him as “a link in the chain” of what the lawyer called a “disastrous state‑sponsored criminal enterprise.”
The Brussels court expanded the scope of the trial beyond prosecutors’ requests to include Lumumba’s allies Maurice Mpolo and Joseph Okito, who were killed alongside him. “It’s a gigantic victory,” said family lawyer Christophe Marchand, noting that when the case was first filed in 2011 few believed Belgium would seriously investigate its colonial-era crimes.
In 2022 the investigation led to the return to Congo of what are believed to be Lumumba’s only known remains—a single tooth—handed over in a coffin. The tooth had been seized from the daughter of a Belgian police officer implicated in the disappearance of Lumumba’s body. The handover included official apologies from then-Belgian Prime Minister Alexander De Croo, who acknowledged Belgium’s “moral responsibility” and the failure of officials who “chose not to see” and “not to act.”
Lumumba remains an anti-colonial icon in Congo.
Edited by: Dmytro Hubenko
