Belgian prosecutors on Tuesday announced plans to bring 92-year-old former diplomat Étienne Davignon to trial for his alleged role in the 1961 assassination of Congolese independence hero Patrice Lumumba, more than six decades after the killing that shook Africa and the world.
Lumumba, the Democratic Republic of Congo’s first elected prime minister, was arrested, tortured, and executed in January 1961 — just months after Congo gained independence from Belgium. His murder has long been viewed as a Cold War-era crime carried out with the complicity of Belgian and other Western interests seeking to suppress post-colonial African leadership.
Davignon is the last surviving member of a group of ten Belgian officials named in a 2011 lawsuit filed by Lumumba’s children, which accused the group of orchestrating or enabling the killing.
“The public prosecutor’s office believes there is sufficient basis to proceed with criminal charges,” a spokesperson for the Brussels prosecutor’s office said. “The age of the accused does not exempt him from accountability.”
While Belgium formally acknowledged its “moral responsibility” for Lumumba’s death in a 2002 parliamentary report, the decision to pursue Davignon marks the first attempt to hold an individual criminally responsible.
Lumumba’s family welcomed the development but expressed cautious optimism.
“For years, we have demanded justice not just in words but in action,” said Guy-Patrice Lumumba, one of Lumumba’s sons. “This is a step forward, even if it comes very late.”
The case rekindles scrutiny of Belgium’s violent colonial legacy in Congo, where millions died during decades of forced labor and exploitation. Legal experts say the trial, if it proceeds, will face steep hurdles due to the age of the defendant and the scarcity of surviving evidence and witnesses.
Still, Congolese activists say the move could mark a turning point.
“This is about more than one man,” said historian Jean-Marc Kabunda in Kinshasa. “It’s about finally telling the truth about what Belgium did in Congo — and who paid the price.”
No trial date has been set. Davignon has not publicly commented on the charges.
