{Victoire Ingabire has filed a complaint with the African Court on Human and Peoples’ Rights to demand a retrial, officials said Friday.}
Ingabire was sentenced last December to 15 years in jail for “conspiracy in harming authorities through terrorism and war” and for minimizing the 1994 genocide against Tutsis.
She was also found guilty of spreading rumors to incite violence.
Ingabire had denied the charges against her and boycotted her trial and subsequent appeal, which saw her prison sentence increased from eight years.
According to Ingabire’s unrecognized opposition United Democratic Forces (UDF) party, the opposition figure has called on the Arusha, Tanzania-based African Court on Human and Peoples’ Rights to “order a revision” of her trial.
The UDF said her trial was “marked by numerous irregularities”, and said Ingabire should be freed pending a retrial and paid damages for her “arbitrary detention”.
Her lawyer, Iain Edwards, confirmed a complaint had been lodged, although a court source said it had yet to be examined.
The African Court on Human and Peoples’ Rights is a continental court established by African Union member states.
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