17 janvier 1961 : l’assassinat de Patrice Lumumba

A picture taken in December 1960, shows soldiers guarding Patrice Lumumba (R), Prime Minister of then Congo-Kinshasa, and Joseph Okito (L), vice-president of the Senate, upon their arrest in Leopoldville (now Kinshasa). Belgian justice has been declared competent on December 12, 2012 to investigate on the responsibility of a dozen of Belgians allegedley involved in the assassination of the former Congolese prime minister. Lumumba was the first democratically elected prime minister of Congo after it gained independence from Belgium on June 30, 1960. He was murdered by Katanga officials on January 17, 1961 after Joseph-Desire Mobutu took power in a coup. The country, now known as the Democratic Republic of Congo, was renamed Zaire by Mobutu. A Belgian parliamentary inquiry concluded in 2001 that Belgium had a "moral responsibility" in Lumumba's assassination and the government apologised to its former colony, but no legal action was taken afterwards. AFP PHOTO / STRINGER (Photo by STRINGER / AFP)