The seizure of a number of documents in the federal parliament as part of an investigation into the 1961 assassination of Congolese Prime Minister Patrice Lumumba was legal, according to the Brussels Indictment Chamber, the federal prosecutor's office reported.
The documents concerned were from the Lumumba Parliamentary Committee, which concluded its work in 2001. They included, in particular, testimonies given behind closed doors.
At the request of the Lumumba family, the Belgian court opened an investigation into the murder in December 2012, using the law on universal jurisdiction, which makes it possible to prosecute persons suspected of war crimes, crimes against humanity or genocide, provided the plaintiffs have a connection with Belgium.
The Indictment Chamber agreed to classify Lumumba's murder as a war crime, paving the way for the judicial investigation to begin. That investigation is still ongoing, although eight of the ten people against whom the Lumumba family had filed suit have since died.
By order of the investigating judge leading the case, searches were carried out in the federal parliament in January 2022, and about 200 folders of documents belonging to the Lumumba Parliamentary Committee were seized in the process.
The Chamber had to decide whether the court could view the official reports of testimonies that had been given behind closed doors. The documents in question were sealed pending its decision and placed in one of the halls of parliament.
The Chamber has now ruled that the seizure was legal, and that all but two documents may be used in the judicial investigation.
