Military justice in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) sentenced, on Friday, six people to life imprisonment, found guilty of the assassination, in 2021, of the Italian ambassador in Kinshasa, Luca Attanasio, of his guard of the Italian corps, Vittorio Iacovacci, and their Congolese driver, Mustapha Milam.
Prosecuted for « murder, criminal association, illegal possession of weapons and munitions of war », the six men were also sentenced to pay a sum of two million US dollars as compensation for damages.
The facts date back to February 2021. While in a World Food Program (WFP) convoy, the Italian diplomat and his two companions fell into an ambush near Goma, capital of the province of Nord- Kivu, in the east of the country. Luca Attanasio succumbed to his injuries after being transported to a hospital in Goma.
Among the six men, five were present before the Kinshasa-Gombe garrison military court. They have always denied the facts of which they were accused and proclaimed their innocence. The sixth accused, still at large, was convicted in absentia.
The verdict was more lenient than the requisitions. Indeed, the military prosecutor had requested the death penalty against the defendants whom he had presented as members of a « criminal gang ».
But the civil party to the trial, the Republic of Italy, hostile to the death penalty, was rather satisfied with the verdict, because it had asked that the defendants be “sentenced to a penalty of deprivation of liberty”.
The defense which had pleaded the acquittal announced that it would appeal. Another trial should thus take place before a military court.
By OMA Newsletter N° 1122 of 08/04/2023
Article published under the direction of Dr. Najib Kettani
The OMA, NGO with an Intercontinental vocation
For the development of cultural exchanges
Valuing human potential
The promotion and consolidation of Africa’s development, and
Inter-African integration
