I spoke with my brother Joshua today. Dagbladets reporters Claude Nzunzu (in Congo) and Anders Holth Johansen has upset Joshua very much. I was able to tell him about all the wrong printings from the trial in the newspaper, and he wanted to clear some things up for you. (written in italic is Dagbladets online edition. The rest is quote of what my brother told me.
Pure lies:
Joshua: I’m chocked at Dagbladet. I don’t recognize many of the quotes written in Dagbladet from the trial today.
14.55 French confirms that he hit one of the witnesses, Kasimu Aradjabu after the shots were fired.
Joshua: I never said that I hit Aradjabu. On the other hand I proved in court today that he’s lying. He says that we fought for 3 minutes, all the while Tjostolv apparently used an automatic weapon no more than 10 meters away (33 feet). I supposedly carried a revolver. How Aradjabu survived 3 minutes fighting with me, when both me and Tjostolv supposedly were heavily armed I don’t know. The answer is that he lied. Every Norwegian in the room can verify that this is complete lies from Dagbladet, and I don’t know why it wasn’t reported correctly. This is just one example of incorrect citations.
Joshua: This is as bad as when VG wrote about the unknown witness (the machete man) in their article. Apparently I said that the events around the murder lasted for 10 minutes. According to VG this weakened my statement. The problem is just that I never said this. It’s the two informant’s story. VG mixed my statement with the statements made by the informants.
14.00: The prosecutors ask French to tell them about his background, and what he knows about the Tutsi-minority in Congo.
- I know just a little about this conflict. My father is british, and my mother is norwegian. My name is from the bible, and I have many friends in Israel. My sister studies in Israel says French.
Joshua: When asked about the Tutsi- minority in Congo I told a longer story about the conflict in Congo.
A totally different question was my relationship to the countries Norway, England and Israel. My answer was that I’m half British and half Norwegian and some details regarding that. My relationship to Israel is that I was a tourist there once. My mother has several friends there and my sister studied there for a year. That is my only connection to Israel.
13.20: The prosecutors ask French about his employment:
- I was never formally part of Molands company says French.
-Why did Moland provide you with an ID-card with an alias, asks the prosecutor.
-Moland and I worked together in a security company, against pirates in Somalia. I was a friend of Moland so I ran the company when Moland wanted me to said French.
-We didn’t work in the same team in Somalia. There were a lot of people and a lot of ships. We just happened to come from the same country. We were recruited because we are former soldiers says French.
Joshua: I made it very clear that it was a business card, not an ID-card. I also said that I’m not a registered member of Tjostolvs Security Company, but I have an unofficial title so that I can represent his company when he is unavailable, especially in Europe, but also in Africa. They asked me if Tjostolv and I have travelled together in the Middle East. I answered that we did different things in Gulf of Aden, but in Africa we travelled together.
12.20: You have been accused of being spies and mercenaries. What do you have to say to that, the prosecutors wants to know.
-We are not mercenaries, even though Moland said that yesterday. You should know that he is sick, like the doctors have confirmed, says French.
-None of the doctors have said that he is sick, argue the courts chairman.
(Moland said in court yesterday that he was in Congo as a mercenary, red. com.)
-I came to Congo to find out the possibilities to do business here, says French.
Joshua: When asked what we were doing in Congo I answered that we mainly travelled as tourists, but also in regards to future possibilities for Tjostolvs Company.
12.00: Tjostolv Moland said during court yesterday that he was in Congo to support the Tutsi-minority in the country. Joshua French are being confronted with the same questions:
-Do you know the lawyer named Firmin Yangambi, the prosecutors’ asks.
-No, I’ve never met him or heard of him, says French.
Joshua: About Tjostolvs statements around the Tutsis I answered that the conflict in East-Congo and the different parties are not my conflict. There is a certain rebel leader arrested in Rwanda. They say he’s a war criminal. If that is the case I support his arrest.
11.15: We were attacked 109 kilometres outside of Kisangani. We wanted to drive to Nyanya so that we could communicate to the embassy what had happened to us, says French.
Joshua: I said that I wanted to go to Mambasa, not NiaNia. I explained this very clearly, three times. There was no way that this could be misunderstood.
Joshua: The media coverage of this trial is so occasional and poor that it destroys more than it enlightens. I hope the medias coverage hasn’t been this bad home in Norway the whole time.
Written by Hannah on behalf of Joshua, Thursday November 12th 2009
