Africa-Press. The Belgian judiciary has begun examining the possibility of trying the last living official accused in the assassination of Congolese leader and first Prime Minister after independence, Patrice Lumumba, who was killed in 1961.
The Brussels court held a closed-door session last Tuesday to review the case of former Belgian diplomat Étienne Davignon, 93, accused of participating in Lumumba’s “illegal detention and transfer” as well as “humiliating and degrading treatment.” The public prosecutor considers Davignon as the last individual who could face trial in this case, which shook Belgium’s colonial history in Congo.
Lumumba’s family, who has been demanding a judicial recognition of Belgian officials’ responsibility in the crime for 15 years, attended the hearing through several grandchildren. His granddaughter, Yema Lumumba, said: “We are here to affirm that this struggle continues, and we will pursue it to the end.”
The court is expected to issue its decision in the coming weeks on whether to open an official trial. The family’s lawyer, Christophe Marchand, expressed hope that the trial would begin in early 2027, stressing that a rejection would mean “entrenching impunity for major colonial crimes.”
The assassination of Lumumba, just months after Congo’s independence, is considered one of the most significant crimes of the colonial era. The family asserts that the murder was part of a “wide conspiracy” involving Belgian officials in cooperation with separatists and mercenaries.
