Now in custody are Maximilien Turinabo, Anselme Nzabonimpa, Jean de Dieu Ndagijimana, Marie Rose Fatuma and Dick Prudence Munyeshuli.
Rwanda Public Prosecution Authority has announced in a statement that the arrests were executed on Monday upon a request by the Prosecutor of the International Residual Mechanism for Criminal Tribunals (IRMCT).
The five suspects are expected to be transferred to the seat of the Mechanism in Arusha, Tanzania.
The IRMCT statement released Wednesday indicates that the alleged aim of the suspects’ efforts was to secure the reversal of Augustin Ngirabatware’s conviction by the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda (ICTR).
Ngirabatware was convicted by the ICTR’s Appeals Chamber for direct and public incitement to commit genocide, instigating genocide and aiding and abetting genocide and gave him a sentence of 30 years of imprisonment.
The indictment in the Turinabo et al. case alleges that the five accused are responsible for contempt of court, incitement to commit contempt and knowingly violating court orders, and interfering with the administration of justice at the Mechanism and ICTR.
The Office of the Prosecutor alleges that Maximilien Turinabo, Anselme Nzabonimpa, Jean de Dieu Ndagijimana and Marie Rose Fatuma, directly and through others, offered bribes and exerted pressure to influence the evidence of protected witnesses in the Ngirabatware case.
It further alleges that Dick Prudence Munyeshuli and Maximilien Turinabo disclosed protected information regarding protected witnesses in knowing violation of protective measures ordered by the ICTR and Mechanism.
“I wish to express our gratitude to the Rwandan authorities for promptly executing the Mechanism arrest warrants and apprehending the five accused. The Office of the Prosecutor continues to enjoy excellent cooperation with the Prosecutor-General of Rwanda, Mr. Jean Bosco Mutangana, and other Rwandan authorities,” said the Mechanism Chief Prosecutor Serge Brammertz in a statement.
He said that his office is determined to fight all efforts to interfere with witnesses and the proper administration of justice, in accordance with the office’s mandate from the United Nations Security Council.
“We are fully committed to safeguarding the integrity of all proceedings before the Mechanism, ICTR and ICTY, in particular by ensuring the protection of witnesses. The confirmation of our indictment and arrests of the five accused this week are visible demonstrations of that commitment,” he added.
ICTY stands for the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia.
IRMCT instruments state that anyone who is convicted with interfering with its justice shall face seven years of imprisonment maximum or a fine of €50,000.
ICTR sentenced Ngirabatware to 35 years in jail in 2012 but the sentence was reduced to 30 years in 2014 in the appeal trial by IRMCT. IRMCT succeeded ICTR.
In June 2017, IRMCT accepted Ngirabatware’s request for the appeal review which was set for February 2018. However, his counsel Peter Robinson withdrew earlier, putting off the review hearing until September 24.
Ngirabatware has got Diana Ellis and Sam Blom-Cooper as counsel and co-counsel to represent him in the review proceedings before the Mechanism.
The 61-year old was arrested in Germany in September 2007 and transferred to ICTR in October 2008.
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