Belgium and the Democratic Republic of Congo have become embroiled in a diplomatic spat after a court in Kinshasa upheld a death sentence Monday for a Belgian-Congolese military expert.
The military court handed down the verdict to Jean-Jacques Wondo in an appeal case for allegedly orchestrating an abortive coup last year in Congo, his lawyer said Monday.
The Belgian government announced Monday the immediate recall of its ambassador to Kinshasa for consultations and the summoning of the ambassador of Congo to Brussels “to express our disappointment,” according to a statement by the Foreign Ministry.
“This death sentence of our compatriot cannot be taken lightly...given the great weaknesses of the elements presented during the hearings and the manifest lack of credible evidence,” it added.
Military expert
Wondo, a military expert working with the Congolese intelligence service, was one of 37 people sentenced to death over what the DRC's army says was a foiled coup attempt in May 2024.
He is considered by the DRC military justice system to be the brains behind the bid, in which armed men attacked a minister's home before heading to the offices of President Felix Tshisekedi.
Following a four-and-a-half-month-long wait after his initial verdict in September, Wondo's death sentence was upheld on appeal on Monday.
Several human rights organisations have called for the death sentences to be commuted to life imprisonment.
Death sentences were also handed down to a Briton and a Canadian, all naturalised Congolese like Wondo, as well as three US citizens.
In March, the DRC government lifted a moratorium on the death penalty that had been in force since 2003.
It said thi s was to target soldiers accused of treason, with the Congolese army locked in battle with armed fighters backed by the Rwandan army in its troubled east.
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