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UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs

RWANDA: Ex-president to remain in prison, court rules

KIGALI, 30 July 2003 (IRIN) - Detained former Rwandan President Pasteur Bizimungu and a former minister will remain in prison to answer afresh charges brought against them by the government, the Supreme Court of Rwanda ruled on Wednesday.

Dismissing an appeal by Bizimungu and former minister Charles Ntakirutinka for their immediate release, Judge Hodari Ntsinga ruled that the appeal had no legal basis and ordered them to remain in detention, pending trial before Rwanda's Court of First Instance.

The government has accused Bizimungu and Ntakirutinka of spreading partisan politics aimed at dividing Rwandans along ethnic lines. Ethnic hatred led to the death of at least 800,000 Tutsis and politically moderate Hutus during the 1994 genocide in Rwanda.

Bizimungu and Ntakirutinka were charged in May 2001 with threatening state security and inciting civil disobedience when they attempted to launch a new political party, the Democratic Party for Renewal-Ubuyanja.

Their trial began on 14 October 2002 and they have been challenging the prosecution on the legitimacy of the charges against them, and seeking their immediate and unconditional release.

Bizimungu accused the prosecution for altering the original charges against them and bringing fresh accusations when their trial was to begin. He had also said that the government confiscated US $10,000 from him during arrest.

Among the new accusations brought by the government against was the possession of a gun, selling property in order to flee the country and linking up with "remnant enemy" government forces operating in the Democratic Republic of the Congo.

"The two had appealed to the Supreme Court to dismiss these charges because they were politically motivated," Serafina Bizimungu, wife of the former president, told reporters after the ruling.

"I am frustrated by the outcome of this decision because my husband is innocent," she said.

Theme(s): (IRIN) Human Rights

[ENDS]

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