By Xan Rice

Two Norwegian security contractors convicted of murder and espionage in the Democratic Republic of the Congo will tomorrow begin an appeal against their death sentences. Joshua French, 27, who spent part of his early childhood in Margate and holds dual British citizenship, was arrested with Tjostolv Moland, 28, in eastern Congo in May after their driver was found shot dead. The men denied shooting Abedi Kasongo in the head, and said he had been killed during an attack by unknown gunmen.

During sentencing last month the chairman of the military tribunal in Kisangani described the defendants as Norwegian spies. Although both men had served in Norway’s elite Telemark battalion, the Norwegian government said that they had had no contact with the army or any other state organisation since 2007. Norway condemned the death sentence as “unacceptable” and also rejected a court ruling that it was liable for $60m in compensation.

Kari-Hilde French, French’s mother, said today that although she was sure her son and Moland were innocent, she expected the appeal to fail. “I have no hope because the hearing is in the same court in the same town, and everybody there believes they killed the driver,” she said in a telephone interview from Norway. French and Moland had previously worked as private military contractors in other parts of Africa, and claimed to be trying to set up their own security company before their arrest.

During the trial Congolese prosecutors said they had discovered Norwegian military ID cards, fake UN caps, and employee badges for a Norwegian security company called “Special Interventions Group” in the names of French and Moland. The company said the badges were obtained under false pretences.

A representative of the British embassy in Kinshasa is expected to attend the appeal, along with the men’s Norwegian lawyer. French, who had a British father, now dead, spent most of his youth in Norway after leaving the UK as a young boy, but returned for three years from the age of 19.

Read this story at The Guardian UK website by clicking here.

BBC News – Joshua French, 27, and Tjostolv Moland, 28, were also accused of arms smuggling and espionage. They denied all charges.

They were held after their Congolese driver was found shot dead in May this year in the north-east of the country.

The two were ordered to pay $60m (£36m) damages. There was reportedly applause when the sentence was handed down at a military tribunal in Kisangani city.

By David Smith

Two alleged mercenaries from Europe are facing the death penalty in the Democratic Republic of Congo after being accused of murder and spying.

Looking pale behind unkempt beards, Joshua French, 27, and Tjostolv Moland, 28, both from Norway, were charged with murder, attempted murder, espionage, conspiracy and armed robbery after their driver was found dead with a gunshot wound to his head in May this year.

Norwegians Tjostolv Moland (l) and Joshua French (r) attend a military tribunal in Kisangani, Democratic Republic of Congo. Photograph: Thomas Hubert/Reuters

“May it please the garrison military court to say that the accusations against Tjostolv Moland and Joshua [French] are established and to sentence them … to the death penalty,” the prosecutor, Major Jean Blaise Bwa Mulundu, told the court last week, according to Reuters.

Norway has strongly expressed concerns that the men are not receiving a fair trial. French himself said: “I don’t think any recognised nation would accept this trial in any way or accept any of the evidence.”

A murky chain of events led the two men to the grim military courtoom of Kisangani in the lawless east of Congo.

French and Moland were reportedly in the country to set up their own security company. The website Private Military Herald, which monitors the private security industry, claimed that Norwegian military ID cards, counterfeit UN hats and employee ID badges with both correct and false names were found by police at an apartment shared by the two men in Uganda.

The employee badges were believed to use the logo of a Norwegian security company, Special Interventions Group (SIG), on false pretences. A source at SIG said: “We were supposed to have a partnership with these guys a year ago but it didn’t happen. They decided to try it for themselves and start their own company. Unfortunately they chose our name and used our ID cards.”

The source added: “We don’t believe for a second these guys killed anyone. They’re just kids who went abroad, tried to think big and set up a company. I don’t have a bad word to say about them. They loved Africa and they did not want to be mercenaries.”

French and Moland had previously served in Norway’s armed forces. Norwegian diplomats say there has been no contact between the accused and their country’s military or any other official organisation since 2007.

It is not clear what the two accused were doing in the area. Former soldiers are frequently taken on by private security companies who have stepped up interest in the region due to oil discoveries under Lake Albert, which lies on the border between Congo and Uganda.

French and Moland have said that 47-year-old driver Abedi Kasongo was shot and killed when their car was attacked by gunmen on the road, 60 miles east of the town of Kisangani.

The men were travelling in Congo’s north-eastern Orientale province, which is still unstable and plagued by armed groups six years after the country’s war officially ended. But the region is starting to attract investors after the discovery of billions of barrels of oil on the Ugandan side of the border by London-listed Tullow Oil and Heritage Oil.

The prosecution demanded last week that Norway pay Congo $500bn in damages over the incident.

Mulundu requested the death penalty for each of the five charges against the two defendants. The verdict is expected to be handed down by the military court this week.

The murder trial for two Norwegian security guards begins Friday in the Democratic Republic of Congo.  Tjostolv Moland, age 28 and Joshua French, 27 are charged with the shooting death of their hired driver Adebi Kasongo which occurred on the 5^th of May.   Additional charges against the two include espionage and various weapons violations.

Authorities believe the two men shot and killed their driver on an isolated section of road between Kisangani and the Ugandan border but thus far the prosecution has not disclosed their theory as to the motive for the crime.  For their part the Norwegians insist they are innocent of any wrongdoing but thus far have not indicated who they believe fired the fatal shots.

Tjostolv Moland and Joshua French are charged with the shooting death of their hired driver. Photo courtesy of Thomas Hubert/Aftenposten.

Evidence seized recently at the apartment the two men shared in Uganda could play a large role n the eventual outcome of the trial.  During the police raid authorities found Norwegian military ID cards, counterfeit United Nations hats, employee ID badges with both the correct and false names of the two men.  The employee badges are from a heretofore little known security company named Special Interventions Group (SIG) which is owned by and mostly staffed by Norwegians.  During the raid on the apartment authorities also confiscated at least one rifle and a camera containing pictures of the two men on their recent travels in Africa.  In one grainy image, believed to have been taken by Mr. French, Mr. Moland is seen smiling as he washes the blood believed to be that of Mr. Kasongo from the inside of the hired car.

Vague Details

Only recently have Moland and French begun discussing their case publicly.  Previously French was inexplicably coy about his true identity and had been operating under the name “John Hunt”.  Their use of false names likely lead the prosecution to become extra suspicious especially in light of the fact that the two resided in Uganda, with whom the Congo has a long, contentious and bloody past.

As portions of their story emerged it became evident that key details remained undisclosed.  Not least of which were what exactly were the two men doing in the restive eastern region of the Congo?

Playing Soldier

Moland and French served briefly in the Norwegian Army’s Telemark Battalion, which in the Norwegian order of battle, is purportedly an elite infantry unit.  It is unknown if either deployed operationally during their military service.

The two men had been apparently on somewhat of an African adventure in the months leading up to their arrest.  Photos found both on their own camera as well as those sent home to family and friends show the two men posing for tourist-like snap shots at various locations in central Africa.

Moland has previously stated during interviews with Norwegian reporters that the company he founded and insists is legitimate, Special Interventions Group – Uganda and he contends that it “has nothing to do with” other companies with the name Special Interventions Group.  This appears to conflict with the  recently obtained  SIG-Uganda employee ID badges which bear the identical SIG logo and the name false name of Mike Callan and John Hunt each accompanying Moland and French’s respective photographs.  Furthermore,  the name ‘Mike Callan’, apparently used by Moland,  is listed as recently as 2008 on SIG brochures as the Chief Executive Officer of SIG-Uganda.

Representatives from SIG have thus far not commented publicly on the pending trial of Moland and French.  However, in previous public interviews members of their staff, including one identifying himself as “John Hunt” had claimed that SIG has executed offensive combat operations in Africa, including in the DRC.

Details regarding the specific business activities undertaken by SIG-Uganda are difficult to ascertain but it is not believed that the venture had proven particularly lucrative for Moland, who asserted himself in recent interviews as the primary owner.  In addition to offering security services both Moland and French we also said to be “attempting to organize corporate adventure tours” in partnership with a large international travel company but thus far Moland or French have refused to disclose the name of the company.

Low Tech, High Stakes

The physical conditions that the accused find them selves in now are deplorable, despite the fact that they apparently occupy the best cell in the filthy and antiquated Kisangani jail.  Their ragged physical appearance and Spartan treatment thus far gives a clear indication of the sophistication of the trial that likely awaits them.  Interestingly, both men have been confined together which in almost all circumstances would not have been the norm.  Their time together will have certainly given them time to corroborate details of their defense and this could make it difficult for the prosecution if they are unable to present a compelling enough case.

It is not expected that much if any forensic or physical evidence of value will be presented at the trial.  Instead the prosecution seems to place the majority of its case in witness testimony and circumstantial evidence.

So, as early as Friday perhaps additional details will emerge regarding the events that lead to the death of Adebi Kasongo.  If convicted on the murder charge the two men could receive a life sentence to be served in a Congo prison.