Joshua French and Tjostolv Moland

Joshua French and Tjostolv Moland

Joshua Olav Daniel Hodne French (born 7 April 1982 in Re, Vestfold, Norway) and Tjostolv Moland (born 28 February 1981), sometimes referred to by the aliases John Hunt and Mike Callan respectively, are two Norwegian security contractors arrested in May 2009 in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, accused of murdering their driver by gunshot and of espionage for Norway. They are both former soldiers in the Norwegian Armed Forces, who 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 of all charges and sentenced to death by a military tribunal in the regional capital, Kisangani.[1][2][3][4][5] The Congolese 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.

Contents

Career

Joshua French grew up in the municipality of Re in Vestfold county and has both Norwegian and British citizenship. Moland is from Vegårshei in Aust-Agder county.

Until 2006, French served in the Norwegian Armed Forces and was also employed in the British Army where he trained as a paratrooper.[6] In 2006, he was admitted to the Telemark Battalion, the Norwegian Army's elite infantry unit, but was allegedly forced to resign in 2007 as he and his friend Moland were accused of having recruited military personnel into employment with private security companies.[7]

Moland also has a Norwegian Army background, having served in The King's Guard and later the Telemark Battalion, where he held the rank of second lieutenant before his resignation in 2007.[8] French and Moland later worked as security guards in several places, including pirate guards for a Korean company in the Gulf of Aden. French and Moland were also involved in security missions in various African countries, such as Angola, Sierra Leone, and lately in the Democratic Republic of the Congo.[9]

Arrest and courtroom charges

There are conflicting stories as to their reasons for being in the country. French and Moland claim they intended to set up their own security company. In May 2009, they were arrested and charged in the killing of their hired driver, 47-year-old Abedi Kasongo, which is said to have occurred on May 5, 2009. French was arrested on May 9 in the Epulu game reserve, around 200 kilometres (120 mi) from Kisangani. Moland was arrested two days later in the Ituri Province, a few hundred kilometres farther northeast.[10]

After their arrest, French and Moland were charged with killing Kasongo on an isolated section of road between Kisangani and the Ugandan border. The prosecution did not disclose their theory as to the motive for the crime. Additional charges against the two included attempted murder of a witness, espionage, armed robbery and the possession of illegal firearms.[11]

Their trial, held on August 14, was allowed to take place before a military court because firearms had been used in the crime.[10] However, according to Mirna Adjami, a local representative of the International Center for Transitional Justice, only Congolese police and army soldiers can be tried before a military tribunal; this raised questions as to the court's legality.[12]

Prosecution evidence

During the criminal investigation, the Congolese authorities found Norwegian military ID cards, counterfeit United Nations caps, and employee ID badges with both the correct and false names of French and Moland. The employee badges were from a little-known security company named Special Interventions Group (SIG) which is owned by and mostly staffed by Norwegians. The investigators also found SIG-Uganda employee ID badges which bore the identical SIG logo and the false names of "John Hunt" and "Mike Callan" accompanying French and Moland's respective photographs.[11] During a raid on French and Moland's apartment, authorities also confiscated at least one rifle and a camera containing images of French and Moland on their recent travels in Africa. In one image, believed to have been taken by French, Moland is seen smiling as he washes what is alleged to be the blood of Abedi Kasongo from the inside of their car. French and Moland have said that Kasongo was murdered by gunmen who attacked them on a road.[5]

Two individuals, Gina Kepo Aila and Kasimu Aradjabo, said they were both present during the killing. Both witnesses told the court that Moland shot Abedi Kasongo, while French threw himself over Gina Kepo Aila, whom he tried to kill. According to both witnesses, several shots were fired, most probably three.[13]

Verdict

On September 8, 2009, French and Moland were found guilty on all counts and sentenced to death. Along with the death sentence for both, the tribunal ordered the Norwegian government to pay a US$1 compensation to each Congolese citizen, an amount Judge Claude Disimo, head of the military tribunal, said totals more than US$60 million.[4] The prosecution had sought the death penalty for the five charges made against the men.[2] Norwegian authorities have denied that the men were involved in espionage for Norway, and have expressed concern they were not receiving a fair trial.[14] Initially the Congolese claims of compensation had amounted to more than US$500 billion.[15]

The men appealed their conviction on September 9, 2009.[16] According to Judge Claude Disimo, they will not be extradited back to Norway.[17] On April 22, 2010 the BBC reported that the convictions of French and Moland were overturned on the basis of flawed procedures at their military tribunal.

A new trial with different judges found them guilty of murder and espionage on June 10, 2010. They were again sentenced to death and the Norwegian State was ordered to pay $65m.[18]

Capital punishment in the Congo

See also: Use of capital punishment by nation

Although it remains on the statute books, the death penalty is currently not applied in the Democratic Republic of the Congo.[10] The last known execution occurred in 2003, and today capital punishment is usually commuted to life imprisonment.[19]

Reaction

Norway immediately condemned the sentence and rejected the allegations of espionage. Foreign Minister Jonas Gahr Støre said the sentence was "completely unacceptable" and that he would protest to his Congolese counterpart.[10] "We wish to distance ourselves from the conviction of espionage on Norway's behalf," Støre said. "We also wish to distance ourselves from the court's decision that the Norwegian State is responsible for paying damages. Norway is not a party in this case."[17]

French and Moland's 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.[10] A spokesman for the oil company Tullow Oil, which operates in the region, pointed out that French and Moland's "unprofessionalism and amateur behavior" were indicators that they were not foreign agents as the prosecutor claimed.[20] Øistein Mjærum, an advisor to former Norwegian prime minister Kjell Magne Bondevik, called the two defendants "idiots".[21] The case has been widely covered in the Norwegian media, which has described much of the evidence presented against French and Moland as "contradictory and seemingly absurd", such as the case with a photo of Rune Folkestad a photographer in Drammens Tidende, a local newspaper, wearing a beret and pointing at Africa, in which Folkestad is named as French's and Moland's commander for their claimed operation in the Congo.[13][22] There are, however, also indications that French and Moland received fairer treatment from the military tribunal than would have been the case with a civil court. The Swedish newspaper Dagens Nyheter reported a former political advisor to the UN peace mission to the Congo (MONUC) as saying that it appeared evidence existed for the charges and that the trial was procedurally correct. However, she was also quoted as saying that since the rule of law in the country leaves much to be desired, the verdict should be "taken with a grain of salt".[23]

Reprieve and Clive Stafford Smith are involved in the case, as of November 28, 2009.[24]

References

  1. ^ Norwegians given death sentence by Congo court, The Norway Post, September 8, 2009.
  2. ^ a b Court in Congo sentences two Norwegians to death, Guardian, September 8, 2009]
  3. ^ 4VF News (Norway), September 8, 2009
  4. ^ a b Norwegians to die for Congo spying, The Daily Nation, September 8, 2009.
  5. ^ a b Smith, David (September 1, 2009). "European 'mercenaries' face death penalty in Congo". The Guardian (London). http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2009/sep/01/congo-accused-norwegians-death-penalty. Retrieved 2010-05-18. 
  6. ^ Kjæresten min er ingen leiemorder, Dagbladet, May 27, 2009. (Norwegian)
  7. ^ Tvunget ut av Forsvaret, Aftenposten, September 2, 2009. (Norwegian)
  8. ^ Tjostolv Moland (28) og kameraten (27) flyktet inn i jungelen mens kulene suste rundt dem, Dagbladet, May 13, 2009. (Norwegian)
  9. ^ French og Moland kjempet mot pirater i Adenbukta, Aftenposten, September 1, 2009. (Norwegian)
  10. ^ a b c d e Congo court sentences Norwegians to death, AFP (via Google News), September 8, 2009.
  11. ^ a b Congo Murder Trial of Two Norwegians Set to Begin on Friday, Private Military Herald, August 11, 2009.
  12. ^ Nærland, Mina Hauge (2009-09-08). "- Ulovlig å dømme dem ved en militærdomstol" (in Norwegian). Dagbladet. http://www.dagbladet.no/2009/09/08/magasinet/kongo/tjostolv_moland/joshua_french/kongo-saken/8008291/. Retrieved 2009-09-09. 
  13. ^ a b (Norwegian) Her er bevisene mot de drapstiltalte nordmennene, Dagbladet, August 25, 2009
  14. ^ Norway pair face death in Congo, BBC News, September 8, 2009.
  15. ^ Krokfjord, Torgeir (2009-08-27). "Staten Kongo krever 3038 milliarder kroner fra Norge og de tiltalte" (in Norwegian). Dagbladet. http://www.dagbladet.no/2009/08/27/nyheter/utenriks/innenriks/kongo/tjostolv_moland/7837510/. Retrieved 2009-09-09. 
  16. ^ Krokfjord, Torgeir (2009-09-09). "Moland og French anker dødsdommen" (in Norwegian). Dagbladet. http://www.dagbladet.no/2009/09/09/nyheter/utenriks/kongo/joshua_french/tjostolv_moland/8026322/. Retrieved 2009-09-09. 
  17. ^ a b Congo Sentences 2 Norwegians to Death, AP (via New York Times), September 9, 2009.
  18. ^ "Second DR Congo court orders execution for Norwegians". BBC. 2010-06-10. http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/world/africa/10285099.stm. Retrieved 2010-06-10. 
  19. ^ DR Congo: Death penalty / Document | Amnesty International
  20. ^ De var åpenbart ikke profesjonelle, Aftenposten, September 6, 2009.(Norwegian)
  21. ^ To norske idioter i Kongo, Aftenposten, September 9, 2009.(Norwegian)
  22. ^ http://www.vg.no/nyheter/utenriks/artikkel.php?artid=576896 article from VG, in Norwegian
  23. ^ "Rättsprocessen mot norrmännen gick rätt till", Dagens Nyheter, September 9, 2009. (Swedish)
  24. ^ http://www.dagbladet.no/2009/11/28/nyheter/utenriks/kongosaken/joshua_french/kongo-saken/9242768/

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