Joshua French

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Joshua Olav Daniel Hodne French (born 7 April 1982) is a Norwegian-born security contractor and former soldier. He was arrested in May 2009 in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DCR), and convicted of espionage for Norway, the formation of a criminal association, attempted murder and armed robbery. In 2013 he was still imprisoned at Prison Militaire Ndolo.[1] Joshua French has always claimed his innocence.

Moland and French both formerly served in the Norwegian Armed Forces and later worked in the private security industry. The men claimed that their driver was murdered by gunmen who waylaid them. On September 8, 2009, they were both found guilty and sentenced to death by a military tribunal in the regional capital, Kisangani.[2][3][4][5][6] The DCR government insists that the defendants were active duty Norwegian soldiers, contradicting the Norwegian government's insistence that they had had no connection with Norway's military since 2007. French claimed that an autopsy was not performed on the murder victim.[7]

Career

Joshua French grew up in the municipality of Re in Vestfold county. His mother is Norwegian and his father is British. French has dual Norwegian and British citizenship.[8]

French served in the Norwegian Armed Forces until 2006 and was also trained as a paratrooper in the British Army.[9] In 2006, he was admitted to the Telemark Battalion, the Norwegian Army's elite infantry unit, but was forced to resign in 2007 when he and Moland were accused of having recruited military personnel into employment with private security companies.[10]

Trial and conviction

Main article: Trial and conviction of Joshua French and Tjostolv Moland

Major Mofanza Yombo who is one of the judges who sentenced French to death, is a prisoner of the Central Prison of Kisanghani, as of July 2011.[11]

Diplomats meeting in Democratic Republic of Congo

During a state visit to DCR in 2013, French President Francois Hollande suggested that French and Moland should be moved out of their six-man prison cell and five days later the two prisoners were transferred to a shared cell of their own.[12] Britain's Foreign Ministry had requested intervention by Hollande, given French's status as a British national.[12]

In March 2013 Bård Vegar Solhjell in DRC talked about the prisoners with authorities. The main purpose of his trip pertainded to rain forest projects.

Tjostolv Moland's death

Moland was found dead in his cell on 18 August 2013 by French. French, who slept with ear plugs, had noticed that Moland got out of bed, but when he did not return from the adjoining bathroom, he woke up and found his cellmate dead. The prison officials were notified four hours later, and began investigating. DRCs minister of communications, Lambert Mende Omalanga, said that "We're trying to determine whether it was suicide or homicide. It looks like suicide but we're not sure".[13]

Soon after the death, there was speculation in DCR that French may have been involved in Moland's death.[14] In response to this speculation, Norway sent a team of investigators from Kripos together with a forensic pathologist to Kinshasa.[15] A DRC official, General Major Tim Mukuntu, said that "we don't need the Norwegian investigators, but to show openness towards the Norwegians, we have said that it is OK that they come", while DRC will still lead the investigation.[16] Norway's Foreign Ministry also posted a senior diplomat and press liaison officer to Kinshasa. French made a statement welcoming the arrival of the Norwegian investigation team.[14] The DCR Minister of Justice, Wivine Mumba Matipa, said "that she decided that Norwegian investigators had to participate during the investigation, so that speculation would stop."[17] Matipa also wanted an observer from EU alongside the Norwegians.[17]

Following the death, Morten Furuholmen, a former lawyer for the two prisoners, expressed his opinion that "there should have been more activity from the highest levels of politics, including meeting in Congo. Norway's Foreign Ministry has limited itself to short meetings during UN sessions in New York, together with one contact in Ethiopia. There haven't been meetings in Congo as far as I know".[18]

In December 2013, Congolese authorities charged French with having murdered Moland, by drugging and strangling him. The charges were met with expressions of surprise by Norwegian police and civil authorities.[19]

Reactions also pertaining to prisoner French's case

A 20 August 2013 Aftenposten article quoted Ingrid Samset (a political scientist) that a publicized suggestion of holding back development aid funds for "the war-torn nation" to pressure DR Congo is not advisable, but instead Norway ought to open an embassy in DR Congo and invest in other ways also—to show that DR Congo is a nation that Norway cares about—even after Moland's death.[20]

Documentary film

Djo Munga (a Congolese film director) expects to release a documentary film in 2014, about French and Moland.[21] In 2013 Munga said that "Media has been one sided and unfair to Congo in their coverage of this case. So in this film I will start by showing who the Congolese are and what they care about".[21]

References

  1. ↑ I helvetes forgård
  2. ↑ Norwegians given death sentence by Congo court, The Norway Post, September 8, 2009.
  3. ↑ Court in Congo sentences two Norwegians to death, Guardian, September 8, 2009]
  4. ↑ 4VF News (Norway), September 8, 2009
  5. ↑ Norwegians to die for Congo spying, The Daily Nation, September 8, 2009.
  6. ↑ Smith, David (September 1, 2009). "European 'mercenaries' face death penalty in Congo". The Guardian (London). Retrieved 2010-05-18. 
  7. ↑ French: - Det er tydeligvis noen som er ute etter å skylde på meg
  8. ↑ Eide tror det blir lettere å få utlevert French nå, Bergens Tidende, August 19, 2013, (Norwegian)
  9. ↑ Kjæresten min er ingen leiemorder, Dagbladet, May 27, 2009. (Norwegian)
  10. ↑ Tvunget ut av Forsvaret, Aftenposten, September 2, 2009. (Norwegian)
  11. ↑ Dømte Moland og French til døden - sitter selv fengslet i sentralfengselet i Kisangani - nyheter. Dagbladet.no. Retrieved on 2013-08-19.
  12. ↑ 12.0 12.1 Moland og French har fått egen celle etter hjelp fra François Hollande
  13. ↑ Norwegian jailed in Congo on murder charge dies in prison
  14. ↑ 14.0 14.1 – Norge kan ha ansvaret for Molands død
  15. ↑ Ventet fire timer før han varslet om Molands død
  16. ↑ - Joshua er ikke mistenkt for Tjostolv Molands død - Har bare status som vitne, ifølge generalmajoren som leder etterforskningen.
  17. ↑ 17.0 17.1 Kripos får ikke delta i Moland-etterforskning
  18. ↑ Forfatter: - Dette er noe jeg har fryktet
  19. ↑ Solholm, Rolleiv (11 December 2013). "Norwegian charged with murder of compatriot in Congo". The Norway Post. NRK. Retrieved 24 December 2013. 
  20. ↑ Kristin Jonassen Nordby; Per Christian Selmer-Anderssen (2013-08-20). "- Hver dag dør en fange i Kongos fengsler". Aftenposten. 
  21. ↑ 21.0 21.1 Kongolesisk filmskaper skal lage dokumentar om French og Moland

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