During his long career, Etienne Davignon was, among other things, EU Commissioner from 1977 to 1985.
As recently as March this year, it was announced that he would be put on trial for his involvement in the killing of the Democratic Republic of the Congo's first Prime Minister, Patrice Lumumba, who was shot dead in the breakaway region of Katanga in 1961.
Lumumba's survivors have long sought a trial in Belgium, the former colonial power, which is accused of complicity in the killing. Davignon, who previously worked at the Belgian foreign ministry, was the last surviving person believed to have been involved in the killing.
