The decision has been reached after the accused and defence lawyers claimed that they can’t continue to stand trial without knowing whereabouts of witnesses.
Prince Kid and defence lawyers put forward the objection after observing that witnesses were to attend the court session virtually.
His defence lawyer Nyembo disclosed that they want witnesses to provide testimonies physically in a selected place instead of doing it virtually via Skype.
Prince Kid was arrested on 8th May 2022 over alleged sexual abuse against some of participants of Miss Rwanda beauty pageant which he organized for long through his company, Rwanda Inspiration Backup.
He faces charges including soliciting or offering sexual favours, and harassment connected to sexual relations.
Maj Karangwa, 66, has been living in the Netherlands since 1988. He was arrested by Dutch Police on 11th May 2022 in Ermelo.
Rwanda had issued arrest warrants against him to face justice over alleged responsibility in attacks to kill Tutsis at Mugina Parish in Kamonyi District during the 1994 Genocide against the Tutsi.
In 1994, Maj Karangwa was an officer serving under a para-military unit known as Gendarmerie.
Apart from Mugina, he is also suspected to have been involved in the killings of Tutsis in different parts of Kigali.
Following his arrest, Karangwa was arraigned before court and claimed that he does not expect fair justice in Rwanda.
His request has been validated during a hearing held on Wednesday.
Karangwa was born in former Mugina Sector, in the current Kamonyi District.
Between 1992 and 1993, he served as an intelligence officer in the former Rwanda Armed Forces (EX-FAR).
During the Genocide against the Tutsi, thousands of Tutsi citizens had sought refuge in the nearby parish of Mugina in April 1994.
It is said that the mayor of Mugina, who had tried to protect fleeing Tutsis, was killed by militia members, giving the army, police and militias free rein.
An estimated 30,000 Tutsis are said to have been killed during the Mugina parish massacre.
According to sources, Maj Karangwa was closely involved in the planning and execution of the massacres in Mugina, including the supply of weapons to militias that killed Tutsis.
The man and his accomplices are said to have led some 80 Tutsi civilians that had managed to escape the parish massacres to a house that was subsequently set on fire. Karangwa is also accused of having supplied the fuel.
It is said that, prior to the massacres, the man had chaired a meeting calling for Tutsi civilians to be attacked and killed. He is also alleged to have played a part in the assassination of the mayor of Mugina.
The decision was announced on Friday 28th October 2022, a day that had been set by the court to issue the ruling.
The pressing judge has said that the decision was reached after hearing both sides and established the need to hear more witnesses.
The judge revealed that witnesses will be summoned on 15th November 2022 at 8:00 a.m. to provide more evidences virtually.
He explained that the trial will continue to be held behind closed doors.
Ishimwe is facing charges related to sexual abuse against some of participants of Miss Rwanda beauty pageant which he organized for long through his company, Rwanda Inspiration Backup.
Dr. Habumuremyi has been summoned by Gasabo Primary Court for a hearing scheduled on 2nd November 2022.
He was released on 14th December 2021 after spending a year and three months.
During trial proceedings, the prosecution said that Dr. Habumuremyi had Rwf1.5 billion in debts.
The clemency granted to him nullified the three-year jail term and Rwf892 fine that he was handed by Nyarugenge Intermediate Court on 27th November 2020.
However, he had to clear all debts owed to plaintiffs.
It is reported that Dr. Habumuremyi paid some individuals in installments but others did not receive a single coin.
The former politician who served as Rwanda’s Prime Minister between 2011 and 2014 experienced hurdles to pay the debts as his university (Christian University) which dragged him into debts was also closed owing to irregularities.
Dr. Habumuremyi will appear before the court following an allegation filed by Daniel Bizimana, a business man who claims for Rwf3.2 million for offered car rental services.
It is said that the cars were used to transport the staff of the closed Christian University.
Sources indicate that the man received unguaranteed cheque from I&M Bank signed on 10th July 2020 before Dr. Habumuremyi’s arrest.
Following his release, it is reported that the man approached Dr. Habumuremyi to pay back his money ‘which he neither did nor gave him assurance’.
Bizimana filed an accusation to the court demanding it to order Dr. Habumuremyi to refund the money and compensate incurred losses.
Last year, it was revealed that some of properties of Dr. Habumuremyi including a plot of land located in Masaka Sector of Kicukiro District, were put on auction to clear some debts.
After serving as Prime Minister from 7thOctober 2011 to 23rd July 2014, Dr. Habumuremyi was named as the chairman of Chancellery for Heroes, National Orders and Decoration of Honour from February 2015 prior to his arrest in 2020.
Karasira who once served as a lecturer at the University of Rwanda, made the objections as he appeared before Nyarugenge Intermediate Court on Friday 7th October 2022.
The Prosecution alleged that Karasira aired talk shows on YouTube denying the 1994 Genocide against the Tutsi.
The talk shows were aired on his own YouTube channel ‘Ukuri Mbona’ and Umurabyo TV owned by Agnès Uwimana Nkusi.
The Prosecution maintained that Karasira committed the crime of Genocide denial through pronounced statements that it was not prepared, justifying that RPA Inkotanyi’s mission was not to stop Genocide against the Tutsi.
Among others, the Prosecution alleged that Karasira defended the existence of double statements; one from the National Commission for the Fight Against Genocide (CNLG) and IBUKA, umbrella organization of Genocide survivors indicating that the 1994 Genocide against the Tutsi was prepared since 1959 and another side of the international court that no one was convicted of preparations of Genocide.
The Prosecution also accused him of having featured in a talk show on 21st May 2021 where he declared that Kabuga was hunted because he refused to pay contributions to RPF instead of distributing machetes.
It was also alleged that Karasira defended the shooting of Habyarima’s plane as the trigger of the Genocide, highlighting that victims were killed because their children or relatives had joined an army formed by a subversive group.
The statement was made through a talk show aired on Umurabyo TV and Ukuri Mbona.
Karasira was also accused of inciting ethnic divisionism through talk shows aired on the two aforementioned YouTube channels and Pax TV.
The Prosecution alleged that the YouTuber knows himself that he disseminated false information using electronic means.
The false information includes statements that Rujugiro was not rewarded for supporting the government, that top military leaders came from Uganda among others.
After presenting evidences; the defence lawyer of Karasira, Gatera Gashabana requested floor for his client to make clarifications on health issues that would help the court understand deeply the origin of allegations against him.
Karasira who was seated on a bench due to health problems, said that he was not ready to stand trial noting that he should have been consulted before providing room for evidences.
The court reminded Karasira that the trial was also adjourned to allow enough time for preparations and requested him to specify the time he needs.
The accused said that he suffered from diabetes where his health conditions do not allow him to prepare for trial.
Karasira complained that he is always notified of his trial one day before yet he should be informed two weeks before.
He requested medical care before standing trial.
On the Prosecution’s concerns that he pushes the trial for no reasons, Karasira said that he is willing to be tried but in sound health.
“I am always brought before court forcibly, against my will,” he said.
Karasira said that he also has trauma that he has not yet received treatment for mental illness since he was arrested.
He has been detained since 30th June 2021.
Karasira explained that he suffers from serious consequences of the Genocide with recurrent trauma during trial preparations.
He requested to get medical attention at Médecins Sans Frontières, noting that doctors who attended to him previously did not consider the root cause of his conditions.
Karasira revealed that they did not provide treatment for effects related to alcoholic drinks or bad dreams.
The YouTuber explained that all his conditions are related to effects of the Genocide where he needs therapy treatment.
The accused and his defence lawyer asked the court to adjourn the trial and be given enough time for preparations that would also serve as an opportunity for Karasira to meet with doctors.
The court postponed the trial to 18th November 2022 maintaining that further excuses won’t be accepted.
The journalists include Jean Damascène Mutuyimana, Jean Baptiste Nshimiyimana and Schadrack Niyonsenga who were arrested in October 2018.
The High Court has said that the Prosecution did not present tangible evidences pinning them and ordered their immediate release.
“It was revealed that the Prosecution did not present tangible evidences on inciting public insurrection, and of spreading false information with intention to create hostile international opinion against Rwanda. None of them happened,” Jean Paul Ibambe, the defense lawyer of the three journalists has told IGIHE.
The Prosecution’s allegations are based on stories published on the journalists’ YouTube channel on attacks of FLN to Rwanda in 2018.
Ibambe has said that the journalists told the court that the attacks occurred where there are individuals convicted of involvement.
They have been detained for four years. Ibambe said that the trio has rights to appeal for compensation noting that their acquittal is what matters the most.
The ruling was read in the afternoon of Thursday 28th September 2022 by judges at Nyarugenge Intermediate Court which handled his case since 13th September this year.
Ndimbati who was not present in court was represented by his defence lawyer, Irene Bayisabe.
Ndimbati has been facing counts of defiling a minor identified as Fridaus Kabahizi after intoxicating her, which resulted in a pregnancy that led to the birth of a set of twins; both girls.
During trial proceedings, Ndimbati insisted that the girl was mature by the time they had sex.
The accused objected that the girl was born on 1st January 2002 that she had reached the maturity age (18) when they had sex on 2nd January 2020.
The Prosecution has been however claiming that the girl was born on 7th June 2022 and presented disputed documents to justify the girl’s age.
The court has rejected documents presented by the Prosecution justifying she was born in June 2002 and considered the identity card which the girl possessed when she had sex with Ndimbati.
The court also maintained that it was not convinced by presented evidences proving that Ndimbati had sex with Kabahizi on 24th December instead of self-confessed 2nd January 2020, acquitted Ndimbati and ordered his immediate release.
The Prosecution was not represented as judges read the ruling.
The hearing of opening statements began on Thursday 29th September 2022 but Kabuga boycotted the court as revealed by Iain Bonomy, the presiding judge at the UN tribunal.
Bonomy said that Kabuga is in good health but did neither accept to attend in-person nor virtually.
The MICT recently rejected the request of Lawyer Philippe Larochelle who requested the suspension of Kabuga’s trial awaiting the ruling on suggested replacement of defence lawyer.
On 5th September, Lawyer Larochelle appealed against the ruling dismissing the request to replace Emmanuel Altit as Kabuga’s defence lawyer.
He claimed that Kabuga was denied rights to choose a preferred defence lawyer which ‘would have a negative effect on court’s proceedings’.
On 20th September 2022, MICT validated the relevance for Kabuga’s defence plea but rejected the request to suspend the trial.
According to The New York Times, Kabuga refused to appear in court, saying in a note that it was in protest against a refusal to let him change lawyers, but judges ordered that the proceedings should go ahead and asked the prosecution to read its opening statement.
Kabuga is charged with several counts including five related to genocide; genocide, complicity in genocide, director and public incitement to commit genocide, attempt to commit genocide and conspiracy to commit genocide.
Other charges are persecution and extermination, both as crimes against humanity.
Arrested on 16th May 2020 in France, Kabuga was transferred to a UN tribunal in The Hague for stand trial. He is known as the Chief Financier of Genocide against Tutsi.
Kabuga was a wealthy businessman and core member of the Akazu (a small powerful circle of ideologues that masterminded the Genocide). He was also the founding president of the board of shareholders of hate radio RTLM, which incited killings.
Kabuga was originally scheduled to appear in court in Arusha, where the other arm of the MICT resides, but judges had ruled he would remain in The Hague “until otherwise decided.”
The Prosecution made the request as Bamporiki’s trial in substance began on Wednesday 21st September 2022.
The prosecution revealed that this crime was investigated, after a businessman identified as Gatera Norbert who owns the Norbert Business Group that produces alcoholic drinks, wrote to Rwanda Investigation Bureau (RIB) complaining about the injustice done to him by Bamporiki.
The businessman said that he harassed him and asked for a bribe, threatening him to close his businesses.
They include a Gin factory and a garden known as the Romantic Garden hosting weddings and other social gatherings in Gisozi.
Eight days after filing a complaint to RIB, Gatera wrote to the City of Kigali that his factory was closed because it did not meet the requirements, according to information provided by Bamporiki.
He advised himself to seek out Bamporiki’s help to get his business to reopen. At that time he asked him for the amount of money he would be willing to halt the closure of his businesses.
They agreed to meet at the Grande Legacy Hotel, Bamporiki assured him that he would connect him with the Vice Mayor of the City of Kigali in charge of Urbanization and Infrastructure, Dr. Merard Mpabwanamaguru, and help him open the factory.
On the evening of May 4, 2022, Gatera nd his friend met Bamporiki with Mpabwanamaguru.
At that time, Bamporiki asked Gatera to go and bring the money, when he brought it, Bamporiki gave the order to put it at the ‘Reception’.
When they were sitting at the hotel, the four of them continued to have dinner until 24 minutes past midnight on May 5, 2022.
At that time, they were going out, they were arrested in the parking lot because Gatera had informed the police. Some of the money was found in Mpabwanamaguru’s car, some in Bamporiki’s, while the rest was at the Reception.
The prosecution revealed that Bamporiki, purposely acting as he would close Gatera’s factory, asked for a bribe of Rwf10 million so that he would not report the factory.
As the prosecution said, when Bamporiki saw that Gatera was not going to give him the Rwf10 million bribe, he hurried to inform Vice Mayor Mpabwanamaguru, who immediately went to close the factory.
The prosecution also indicated that he exercised his authority, after Gatera agreed to give him money where Bamporiki called Vice Mayor Mpabwanamaguru to come and meet with Gatera, to open the factory.
Another piece of evidence produced by the Prosecution is that Bamporiki was questioned and admitted to have reported the factory.
He also assured Gatera that if he gave him the money, his company would be opened and he would work and develop.
On the crime of using the power given to him by law for his own benefit, the Prosecutor explained that when Gatera’s wife was arrested, Bamporiki asked her for Rwf10 million to get her released.
These are the things that the Prosecution says that Mr. Bamporiki himself admitted during interrogation.
In his defense, Bamporiki began by apologizing to the entire Rwandan community, noting that he hurried to explain what happened and apologized realizing that what he did could be a crime.
Bamporiki said that Mpabwanamaguru came to see him and told him that there was news that the City of Kigali found out that he was the co-owner of a company with Gatera Norbert, that is causing problems to people.
At that time, he replied that the factory belonged to Gatera. That was the information he gave him, as opposed to the fact that he demanded that the factory be closed.
After the factory was closed, Gatera went to Bamporiki’s house and told him that his factory was closed and that Mpabwanamaguru could help him to open it.
At that time, Bamporiki called Mpabwanamaguru and told him that his friend’s factory was closed, the other told him that it was not him who closed it, but it was done by the City’s management.
“I’m in front of the court and I’m telling the truth as much as I can about what happened and I’m not omitting anything,” he said.
Bamporiki is said to have had a meeting with Gatera to connect him with Mpabwanamaguru to negotiate, which ended on May 4, 2022.
Bamporiki had called Mpabwanamaguru and told him that they could meet and watch a football match, and that is how they ended up at the Grande Legacy Hotel.
When he arrived, he told him that he was with his friend Gatera who is the owner of the factory which got closed.
Bamporiki said that what he accepts and aplogize, is that they told him that they brought money, and told them to drop it at the Reception.
Mpabwanamaguru is said to have conveyed to him the request to open the factory and visited them, telling them that it is not possible because the place where it was operating in Gisozi is not dedicated for factories, and advise them to relocate it to Masoro, in the Special Economic Zone.
Bamporiki says that in the end, all four of them continued to watch the football and have a drink. As he said, they found the Police officers waiting for them outside as they left the hotel.
Bamporiki told the Court that the money brought by Gatera and his friend was not brought to him as they had told him that they only prepared a beer for Mpabwanamaguru.
Of the money, Rwf2 million was taken to Mpabwanamaguru’s car, and the rest was dropped at the Reception to be used to pay for drinks, according to Bamporiki.
In conclusion, he said that out of respect for the Judges, what he owes to the President of Rwanda and Rwandans, he never advised Gatera to close his factory.
He stressed that he has no authority to close or open the factory, especially because the Kigali Municipality has the authority, and he pointed out that the factory was opened the day after his arrest.
In releasing Gatera’s wife, Bamporiki said that what he did was advocacy, not imposing what to do.
At that time, he called RIB and asked if the woman was with them. They explained what she had done, and then she was released.
Bamporiki was represented by lawyers Evode Kayitana and Jean Baptiste Habyarimana.
Lawyer Habyarimana said that according to the law, the person he is defending has not committed a crime because there is no evidence that he asked for or received a bribe.
The prosecution concluded by asking the Court to validate the accusations against Bamporiki, asked for a 10-year prison sentence and a fine five times the bribe he solicited.
This makes it Rwf20 million times five.
For the crime of using the power given to him by law for his own benefit, they requested that he should be sentenced to 10 years in prison and a fine of Rwf100 million.
In combining the penalties, the prosecution requested that he should be sentenced to a total of 20 years in prison and be charged a fine of Rwf200 million.
Bamporiki said that it is an extreme punishment where he would be no longer useful to Rwanda. He asked the court to review his case and grant him mercy.
His lawyer Habyarimana said that his sentence should be no more than five years, with bail, in case his client is found guilty.
The ruling will be read on September 30, 2022, at 8 am.
Bamporiki appeared before the court in the morning of Friday 16th September 2022.
The former state minister who could not be seen by journalists upon arrival at the court’s premises, exited the courtroom through the exit door normally designated for judges.
He appeared before the court wearing glasses, a blue trouser, suit and white shirt without a defence lawyer.
As the hearing began, Bamporiki told judges that he was not ready for the court’s session without his defence lawyer who was attending elections of Rwanda Bar Association (RBA) taking place on the same day.
The court accepted his request and adjourned the hearing to 21st September 2022 at 8:00 a.m.
Bamporiki was suspended from his duties in May this year owing to matters of accountability that were under investigation and placed under house arrest.
Following his suspension, Bamporiki posted a message on his Twitter handle admitting that he received a bribe and apologized to the President of the Republic.
Article 4 of the law N° 54/2018 of 13/08/2018 on fighting against corruption states that any person who offers, solicits, accepts or receives, by any means, an illegal benefit for himself/ herself or another person or accepts a promise in order to render or omit a service under his or her mandate or uses his or her position to render or omit a service, commits an offence.
Upon conviction, he/she is liable to imprisonment for a term of more than five (5) years but not more than seven (7) years with a fine of three (3) to five (5) times the value of the illegal benefit offered, solicited or received.
