This article is from the source 'bbc' and was first published or seen on . It will not be checked again for changes.
You can find the current article at its original source at http://news.bbc.co.uk/go/rss/-/1/hi/world/africa/8393814.stm
The article has changed 3 times. There is an RSS feed of changes available.
Version 0 | Version 1 |
---|---|
Norway pair fail in death appeal | Norway pair fail in death appeal |
(40 minutes later) | |
A Norwegian and a former British soldier sentenced to death for espionage and murder of a taxi driver in DR Congo have lost their appeal. | |
A military tribunal in Kisangani rejected the plea and ordered them to pay $500m in damages before facing the death sentence. | A military tribunal in Kisangani rejected the plea and ordered them to pay $500m in damages before facing the death sentence. |
Joshua French, who holds joint British-Norwegian nationality, and Tjostolv Moland were also accused of spying. | |
Their only remaining option is to appeal before the military high court. | Their only remaining option is to appeal before the military high court. |
French, 27, and Moland, 28, were convicted to death by firing squad for murder by a military tribunal on 8 September. | |
They were also charged with espionage and arms smuggling. | |
'Miscarriages of justice' | |
The ruling drew immediate international protests. | |
Norway condemned the verdict and said it would complain to the government of DR Congo. | |
"Norway is a fundamental opponent of the death penalty, and I will as soon as possible contact the DR Congo foreign minister to relay this message, " said Foreign Minister Jonas Gahr Stoere in a statement. | |
The human rights group Reprieve claims the two men have suffered a series of miscarriages of justice since their arrest, reported the Press Association news agency. | |
"Today, in the farce that substitutes for military justice in the DRC, the judge wanted to dispense with translators," said Reprieve director Clive Stafford Smith. | |
"Apparently Joshua French did not have to understand the process that led to his death sentence," said the director. | |
"The 'legal process' has so far included torturing Joshua, parading him around town in front of lynch mobs, and forcing him to sign statements under threat of death." | |
"Witnesses who testified against the pair received $5,000 each in compensation in a country where people earn about $3-4 a day." | |
Mr Stafford Smith ended with a plea to the British government to "redouble its efforts to end this nightmare." | |
British roots | |
French was born in Norway to a British father and Norwegian mother, and lived in Margate, Kent, as a child. | |
He moved back to Norway when his parents divorced, but returned to the UK aged 20 and served in the British Army. | |
Along with Moland, he has been detained since May this year after the pair's Congolese driver was found shot dead in the north-east of the country. | |
Both men deny murdering Abedi Kasongo, 47, maintaining that he was shot and killed when their car was ambushed by gunmen on the road near the city of Kisangani. |