Stokes affair (original) (raw)

The Stokes affair (French: L'Affair Stokes) or the Stokes-Lothaire incident was a diplomatic incident between the Congo Free State and the United Kingdom in 1895. The affair emerged when Charles Stokes, an Irish trader and former Christian missionary, was arrested for illegal trading in the Congo and hanged without trial on 15 January 1895. The Belgian officer responsible for the execution, Captain Hubert Lothaire, was convinced that Stokes had been selling guns to Arab rebels in the Eastern Congo in exchange for ivory. Lothaire was accused by the British public of having failed to provide Stokes with due process of law. He was charged with murder in Belgium but was acquitted to public outcry in the British Empire.