The retrial of 2 Norwegians sentenced to death in the Democratic Republic of Congo for killing their driver opened on Tuesday after a military high court overturned their sentence.
"The trial has begun. We started with the identification" of suspects Tjostolv Moland, 29, and Joshua French, 28, the lawyer Jean Akombo, who represents the victim's family, told AFP.
The suspects were condemned to death last year by a military court in the northeastern city of Kisangani but a higher military court in the capital Kinshasa in April overturned the verdict over "irregularities".
The case led to a diplomatic spat with Oslo when Norway was named a co-defendant in the trial after the men were accused of spying in the mineral-rich Orientale province, and the state was ordered to pay 500 million dollars (300 million euros) in reparations to Kinshasa.
The men, both former soldiers, were also ordered to pay more than a million dollars to the victim's family and work colleagues.
The court in the original case said Moland and French were in possession of valid military service ID cards when they were arrested and as serving soldiers were thus the responsibility of the state.
Oslo has rejected accusations of spying.
The men had their appeal against the death sentence turned down last December, after which a London-based lawyer for the pair submitted a formal request to President Joseph Kabila for a pardon.
DR Congo has not carried out a death sentence since Kabila came to power in 2001, but commuted such penalties to life imprisonment.
The 2, who were in Kisangani either as tourists or on business depending on varying reports, have said their driver was killed by bandits.
After the initial sentence, Norway said it had received assurances that the Congolese government would not apply the death penalty and that Kinshasa would investigate the possibility of the men serving part of their sentences in Norway.
Source: Agence France-Presse, May 26, 2010
