DRC/Norway - murder sentence

Norwegian alleged spies sentenced to death in Congo

Article published on the 2009-09-09 Latest update 2009-09-09 08:56 TU

Congolese soldiers near Goma, in the eastern DRC.
(Photo: AFP)

A military tribunal in the eastern Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) on Tuesday convicted two young Norwegian men of murdering their driver in May and sentenced them to death. They were also convicted of spying, conspiracy, attempted murder and armed robbery.

Joshua French, 27, and Tjostolv Moland, 28, will appeal against the decision.

The head of the military tribunal Capitan Claude Disimo said that Moland fired the bullet that killed their driver, who was found dead in his car outside in Katanga province near the Uganda border in May. Both men were formerly in the Norwegian army, but diplomatic representatives say that they severed all ties in 2007.

Why the two men were in the east of the country is still unknown, though there is speculation that they may have been hired by a private security company working with mining interests in the mineral-rich region.

The Norwegian government has said that it will try to prevent the DRC from carrying out the sentence.

“Norway will use all the means at its disposal to prevent these men’s deaths,” said Norwegian Foreign Affairs Minister Jonas Gahr Störe.

Congolese President Joseph Kabila has unofficially suspended the death penalty in the DRC since 2003 following a rewriting of the constitution, which now contradicts the criminal code in place.