In the trial of the murder of the Italian ambassador to the DRC, Luca Attanasio in February 2021, the death penalty was demanded against the six people – including one fugitive – tried before a military court in the capital Kinshasa since October 2022. They are accused of the triple murder of the Italian ambassador, his Italian bodyguard, carabinieri Vittorio Iacovacci, and a Congolese World Food Program (WFP) driver, Mustapha Milambo.
With our correspondent in Kinshasa, Pascal Mulegwa
In 18 hearings before the military court of garrison sitting in the enclosure of the prison of Ndolo, the prosecutor defended the version of the authorities. For him, Luca Attanasio, Vittorio Iacovacci and Mustapha Milambo were shot dead after being ambushed near Virunga National Park, north of the city of Goma.
These three people were kidnapped when their captors intended to demand a ransom of one million dollars, according to the prosecutor. And before the judges, Wednesday March 8, he maintained that the victims were kidnapped, then dragged deep into the forest before being executed.
For these crimes, the prosecutor retains the offenses of “murder, criminal association, illegal possession of weapons and ammunition of war”. Charges for which he requires the death penalty against the accused. But this sentence is not applied in the DRC, it will be commuted to life imprisonment.
Coming from Italy, the ambassador’s father filed a civil action at the last minute. In addition to the convictions, he demanded 60 million euros in damages.
During previous hearings, court-appointed lawyers for the defendants had tried, in vain, to disqualify the prosecution’s evidence, namely videos of interrogations showing their confessions in January 2022. Images obtained, according to the defense , under torture. She will present her case this weekend of March 11-12.