I was able to talk to my brother today. Joshua was exasperated by Dagbladet [Norwegian tabloid] and their journalists, Claude Mzunzu (in the Congo) and Anders Holth Johansen. I was able to tell him what had been misreported from the court case, and he wanted me to differentiate between what had been written incorrectly. (The stuff in italics is what is written in Dagbladet's internet edition. The rest is the quotes of what my brother told me.)
Joshua: I am pretty shocked about Dagbladet today. There are misquotes of me and others, and it all seems like a distortion of the truth. Who is Dagbladet's journalist covering this case? I hardly recognise any of the quotations written by Dagbladet from the case today.
14.55: French confirms that he hit one of the witnesses, Kasimu Aradjabu, after the shots were fired.
Joshua: I have never said that I hit Aradjabu. In any case, I proved in court today that he was lying. He says that he and I were fighting for 3 minutes, whilst Tjostolv seemingly used an automatic weapon, less than 10 metres away during this time. I evidently had a revolver as well. How Aradjabu survived a 3 minute fight with me, whilst both Tjostolv and myself were heavily armed, I'm not quite sure. The answer, of course, is that he's lying. All Norwegians present can confirm that these are complete lies from Dagbladet, and why this hasn't been correctly reported is beyond me. This is just one example of many misquotes.
This is just as bad as when VG [Norwegian tabloid] wrote about an unknown witness who said that I had stated that the whole episode during which the murder occurred had taken ten minutes. According to VG, this weakened my testimony. The problem is that I have never said this. It is the two 'witness / informers' who have stated this. So, in this case, VG has mixed my statement with that of the witnesses.
1400: The prosecutor asks French to give an account of his background, and to tell what he knows of the Tutsi minority in Congo. "I only know a little about this conflict. My father is British, my mother is Norwegian. My name is biblical, and I have many friends in Israel. My sister is studying in Israel," said French.
Joshua: On the question of the Tutsi minority, I answered with a long examination of the conflict in Congo. A completely different question was my relationship to Norway, England and Israel. My answer was that I am half-British and half-Norwegian, and some stuff to do with that. My answer with regards to Israel was that I had been there as a tourist once, my mother has several friends there and my sister studied there for a year. That is my only 'relationship' to Israel.
1320: The prosecuting team asks about his employment status: "I was never formally employed by Moland's company," says French. "Why did Moland give you an ID card with an alias," the prosecutor wants to know. "Moland and I worked together in a security company, against pirates in Somalia, and I was a friend of Moland, so I led the company when Moland wanted," says French. "We didn't work in the same team in Somalia. There were a lot of people and boats. We just happened to come from the same country. The reason we were recruited was that we were former soldiers," says French.
Joshua: I made it clear that this was about a business card, not an ID card. I also said that I was not a registered member of Tjostolv's security firm, but that I had an unofficial title, to be able to represent his company when he was unable to, especially in Europe, but also in Africa. I was asked if Tjostolv and I had travelled in the Middle East. I answered that we had been doing different things in the gulf of Aden, but that we travelled together in Africa.
1220: "You have been accused of being spies and mercenaries; what do you say to that?" the prosecutor asks. "We are not mercenaries, even if Moland said so yesterday. You should know that he is sick, as the doctors have confirmed," says French. "None of the doctors have said that he is sick," interrupts the President of the court. [Ed: Moland said that they were mercenaries in court yesterday.] "I came here to see about the possibilities for starting a business," says French.
Joshua: On the question of what we were doing in Congo, I answered that we were primarily there as tourists, but that we were also considering the future possibilities for Tjostolv's company.
1200: After Tjostolv Moland said yesterday in court that they were in Congo to support the Tutsi minority, French is also posed a question related to the same problem: "Do you know the lawyer Firmin Yangambi?" asks the prosecutor. "No, I've never heard of or met him," says French.
Joshua: As far as Tjostolv's statement about the Tutsis, I answered that i had nothing to do with the conflict in eastern Congo and the parties to that conflict. A certain rebel general has been arrested in Rwanda. They say he's a war criminal. If that's correct, then I support his arrest.
1115: "We were arrested 109km outside Kisangani. We wanted to drive to Nyanya, so we could communicate to the embassy what we had been subject to," says French.
Joshua: I said that I wanted to go to Mombasa, not NiaNia. I explained this really clearly, three times. This could not have been misunderstood.
Joshua: The coverage of the case is so sporadic and of such poor quality that it destroys more than it informs. I hope that the media coverage hasn't been so bad in Norway the whole time.
Written by Hannah French, Thursday 12th November 2009.
