Congo court sentences Norwegians to death

[Martinus]

Congo court sentences Norwegians to death
Tue Sep 8, 12:45 pm ET

KINSHASA, DR Congo (AFP) – A court in the Democratic Republic of Congo sentenced two Norwegians to death on charges of murder and espionage Tuesday and ordered the Oslo government to pay 60 million dollars in damages.

Tjostolv Moland, 28, and Joshua French, 27 -- both former soldiers -- were convicted by a military court in the regional capital Kisangani for killing their driver on May 5.

Norway immediately condemned the sentence and rejected the allegations of spying, for which it has been ordered by the court to pay 60 million dollars in reparations as well as 500,000 dollars' compensation to the victim's family.

Foreign Minister Jonas Gahr Stoere said the sentence was "completely unacceptable" and that he would protest to his Congolese counterpart.

"Norway also repudiates the verdict of espionage for Norway and the decision that the Norwegian state must bear joint and several liability for damages. Norway is not a party in this case," he said in a statement.

The minister said his government would hold the Congolese authorities responsible for the safety of the two Norwegians.
"Norway?s Ambassador to DR Congo will meet the Congolese authorities in Kinshasa today to pass on this message. It will also be communicated to the DR Congo?s Embassy in Stockholm," Gahr Stoere added.

The two men pleaded not guilty, saying they had gone to the mineral-rich Orientale Province region as tourists, but questions have been raised about what the two men were doing in a part of country largely untouched by tourism.

French was arrested on May 9 in the Epulu game reserve, around 200 kilometres (120 miles) from Kisangani and home to the rare Okapi or "forest giraffe," a cross between a giraffe and a zebra.

Moland was arrested two days later in the Ituri district, a few hundred kilometres (miles) further northeast.

Moland had set up a security company in Kampala, the capital of neighbouring Uganda, where he had hired French as an employee.

Prosecutors had demanded that exemplary damages be imposed and responsibility placed with Norway.

"The Norwegian state should pay 60 million dollars -- one dollar for every Congolese," prosecuting counsel Lieutenant-Colonel Roger Wabara told the court.

Defence lawyer Guillaume Likwela said the verdict was flawed because the men were not given an interpreter for the trial, carried out in French, which neither speaks.

Though it remains on the statute books, the death penalty is no longer applied in the DR Congo and capital punishment is commuted to life imprisonment.

The Norwegian foreign minister said Norway would protest about the imposition of the death penalty nonetheless.
"Norway is against the death penalty on principle, and I will contact the Congolese foreign minister to make our position clear," he said.

Under Congolese law, the men could be tried in a military court because firearms had been used in the crime.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20090908/wl_africa_afp/drcongonorwaycourt/print

Norwegians sentenced to death in Congo

(CNN) -- Two Norwegian citizens were sentenced to death Tuesday in the Democratic Republic of the Congo for espionage, murder and attempted murder, Norway's Ministry of Foreign Affairs has confirmed to CNN.

Asked about the sentence, Lambert Mende Omalanga, Congo's minister of communications, told CNN, "We don't have a habit of commenting on judicial decisions."

However, Omalanga said, his country has not carried out the death penalty in 10 years. He said lawmakers in parliament are in the process of trying to take the law off the books.

A military court in Kisangani found Tjostolv Moland, 28, and Joshua French, 27, guilty on all charges, Norwegian TV2 reported. The court also ordered the pair to pay $60 million in damages.

The men have five days to appeal their sentence, the Norwegian Ministry of Foreign Affairs told CNN. It was not clear why the men were in Congo.

"I have earlier made absolutely clear that these two have not been conducting business for Norway in any shape or form," Norwegian Minister of Foreign Affairs Jonas Gahr Store told Norwegian state television NRK after the verdict.

"We will now read through the sentence to see exactly how it is written," Store added.

Norwegian authorities have been following the trial closely on television, and have tried to keep a balance between respecting the judicial system of a different country and helping Norwegian citizens in trouble, Store told NRK.

The two men were found guilty of spying for Norway and for killing a driver in May, according to NRK.

In an earlier statement on the Norwegian Ministry of Foreign Affairs Web site, the ministry said that if the two Norwegians were to receive the death penalty, Norwegian authorities would immediately try to seek assurances from Congolese authorities that the death sentence would not be carried out.

"Norway has a very strong stand on the death penalty, and we are very much against it," a Ministry of Foreign Affairs spokeswoman told CNN.

Images on NRK TV showed that after the sentence against the two men was read, applause broke out in the courtroom.

Lesson: if you have to travel to a country full of savages, make sure your government is not made of pussies.

[CountDeMoney]

Lesson: if you have to travel to a country full of savages, make sure your government is not made of pussies.

And try to become mercenaries elsewhere.

[dps]

Didn't we already have a thread on this?

[Martinus]

Yes, but (1) it was about the trial, not the sentence, and (2) I couldn't be bothered to find it.

[Ed Anger]

"Norway has a very strong stand on the death penalty, and we are very much against it," a Ministry of Foreign Affairs spokeswoman told CNN.

boo fucking hoo.

[Viking]

don't worry, a suitable bribe will be requested and offered once the prospect of execution becomes imminent.

[Admiral Yi]

don't worry, a suitable bribe will be requested and offered once the prospect of execution becomes imminent.

They've already come down from $500 billion to $60.5 million.

[jimmy olsen]

"Norway has a very strong stand on the death penalty, and we are very much against it," a Ministry of Foreign Affairs spokeswoman told CNN.

boo fucking hoo.

Love your avatar Ed

[Neil]

Sic semper Scandinavia.

[Malthus]

Congo court sentences Norwegians to death

What, all of them? 

[Razgovory]

A guy named French can't speak French?  How useless.

Anyway, Euros are so tribal about these things.

[Eddie Teach]

Congo court sentences Norwegians to death

What, all of them? 

I don't think I've seen Norgy post in a while.

[CountDeMoney]

Congo court sentences Norwegians to death

What, all of them? 

I don't think I've seen Norgy post in a while.

He emoragequit a while back, before we changed boards.

[Martinus]

Congo court sentences Norwegians to death

What, all of them? 

I don't think I've seen Norgy post in a while.

He emoragequit a while back, before we changed boards.

LOL no, he has been posting a couple of weeks ago.

[Zoupa]

Then he emoragequit again in some rocks thread he had started.