Brende and Hague hold talks about French
Norway’s Foreign Minister Børge Brende has held talks with his British counterpart William Hague to attempt to form a common Norwegian-British strategy during the trial of Joshua French in Congo-Kinshasa, accused of murdering his cellmate Tjostolf Moland on 18th August.
Brende and Hague had a phone discussion about the case of French, a Norwegian-British dual citizen, as well as talking about the situation in South Sudan and the forthcoming Geneva conference about Syria.
“Also discussed joint British/Norwegian strategy with Foreign Minister @WilliamJHague ahead of upcoming trial of Joshua French in Congo,” Brede tweeted.
French, who together with Moland was convicted by a Congolese court of murdering their driver by gunshot and of spying for Norway, was charged last month with murdering his cell-mate in August 2013.
French grew up in Norway, but has dual Norwegian-British citizenship thanks to his British father, and the British Foreign and Commonwealth Office has been involved in the case from an early stage.
At their trial French and Moland were formally sentenced to death, but the death penalty is not currently enforced in Congo. The convictions of French and Moland were broadly criticised in the Norwegian media and by international organisations such as Reprieve.
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Brende and Hague had a phone discussion about the case of French, a Norwegian-British dual citizen, as well as talking about the situation in South Sudan and the forthcoming Geneva conference about Syria.
“Also discussed joint British/Norwegian strategy with Foreign Minister @WilliamJHague ahead of upcoming trial of Joshua French in Congo,” Brede tweeted.
French, who together with Moland was convicted by a Congolese court of murdering their driver by gunshot and of spying for Norway, was charged last month with murdering his cell-mate in August 2013.
French grew up in Norway, but has dual Norwegian-British citizenship thanks to his British father, and the British Foreign and Commonwealth Office has been involved in the case from an early stage.
At their trial French and Moland were formally sentenced to death, but the death penalty is not currently enforced in Congo. The convictions of French and Moland were broadly criticised in the Norwegian media and by international organisations such as Reprieve.
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