A Brussels court has ruled that a 93-year-old former Belgian diplomat should stand trial for alleged complicity in the 1961 murder of Patrice Lumumba, the first prime minister of the newly independent Democratic Republic of Congo.

Étienne Davignon is the only person still alive among 10 Belgians whom the Lumumba family accuses of involvement in the killing. He has been charged with participation in war crimes related to Lumumba's death.

The specific charges against Davignon include the illegal transfer of Lumumba and his associates from Léopoldville, now known as Kinshasa, to the Katanga region. The court also cited allegations of subjecting the men to humiliating and degrading treatment and depriving them of a fair trial.

Patrice Lumumba served as the first prime minister of the Democratic Republic of Congo following the country's independence from Belgium in 1960. He was killed in 1961 in circumstances that have remained controversial and subject to legal scrutiny for decades.

The Lumumba family has welcomed the court's decision, describing it as the beginning of a reckoning for the events surrounding the political leader's death. The case represents a rare instance of legal proceedings related to the colonial-era killing of an African independence leader.