BRUSSELS - Etienne Davignon, a former Belgian diplomat and EU commissioner implicated in the 1961 killing of Congolese independence icon Patrice Lumumba, has died aged 93, his family told AFP Monday.
For decades, an influential figure in Belgian politics, Davignon was ordered in March to stand trial over his role leading up to Lumumba's killing, a decision he had appealed against.
Davignon was a novice diplomat at the time of the assassination, which was carried out with the aid of Belgian mercenaries after Lumumba was ousted in a coup.
Prosecutors accused him of "participation in war crimes" over his role in the "unlawful detention and transfer" of Lumumba, and for the ousted Congolese leader being denied a fair trial.
He was also accused of "humiliating and degrading treatment", although not of direct involvement in Lumumba's killing. Davignon denied all the charges.
The trial would have made him the first Belgian official to face justice in the 65 years since Lumumba was executed.
After entering the diplomatic service in 1959, Davignon rose through the ranks after his early involvement in Congolese independence talks.
In the early 1980s, he gained more prominence when he was named a vice-president in charge of industry of the European Commission.
He later held several high-profile roles in the Belgian business world, including at Société Générale de Belgique and Brussels Airlines.
In 2018, he was rewarded for his services by King Philippe, who gave him the title of count.
- Article by AFP