Ex-soldier waits for news on execution

Published on Saturday 28 November 2009 22:49

A FORMER British soldier sentenced to death by firing squad is still waiting to hear if judges have decided to grant his appeal.

Joshua French, 27, who has dual British and Norwegian nationality, and his friend Tjostolv Moland, 28, a former Norwegian soldier, were convicted of murder and espionage by a military tribunal in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) on 8 September.

Both men deny killing Abedi Kasongo, 47, a driver who was shot in the head 70 miles east of Kisangani in May, saying unknown gunmen ambushed them in the middle of a dense rainforest.

Human rights group Reprieve said that a decision was now expected on Thursday.

Reprieve has also accused the Congolese authorities of using the case as a "cash cow".

Witnesses who testified against the pair received 3,000 each in compensation in a country where people earn about 2 a day.

French was born in Norway to a British father and Norwegian mother, but lived in Margate, Kent, as a child.

He moved back to Norway when his parents divorced, but returned to the UK aged 20 and served in the British Army.

He also served in the Norwegian Army, where he met Moland.

They both left the Norwegian Army in 2007 and worked as security guards in various locations.

A Foreign Office spokesman said officials were in touch with the Congolese authorities and had made British opposition to the death penalty clear.