Reliable sources have disclosed that the recent deported 1994 Genocide suspect Leon Mugesera may have a defense team of 3-4 lawyers.
The defense lawyers’ team will be composed of Canadian origin and local lawyers which is also yet to be named by next week.
According to Leon Mugesera, his case has to be defended by lawyers familiar with his case and recently he said that he cannot fully trust a local lawyer.
His first hearing, Mugesera was defended by a local lawyer identified as Donat Mukunzi who may also end up in his defense team.
When contacted Mukunzi, told Igihe.com without disclosing details that negotiations are still ongoing about how the legal battle for Mugesera will go.
“By now nothing has changed so far but we still have another time to talk to my client about the forward,” Mukunzi said by cell phone.
Mugesera who pledged more one-two months preparation; his next court date is billed on April 2, and that’s when he will enter a plea on charges related to arms trafficking, as well as those related to planning to make the 1994 Tutsi genocide inevitable.
Bertrand his former lawyer in Canada said that for financial reasons, Mugesera may end up defending himself, with only legal advice from Mukunzi.
Bertrand admitted the now infamous speech Mugesera made in 1992 was harsh and hateful but did not incite people to kill, despite the fact the Supreme Court of Canada ruled unanimously in 2005 that there were reasonable grounds to believe Mugesera had committed crimes against humanity.
As for the other charges of arms trafficking, planning and participating, Bertrand said he is perplexed. His client left the country two years before the mass killings began and “probably hasn’t seen a gun in his life.
“It’s only this speech they have against him. That’s all.”
A Montreal retired public and international law professor said it would be too sweeping to suggest that Mugesera has no chance at a fair trial, given the number of international observers watching the highly publicized case.
“I think if you have a good and impartial judge, he or she should be able to distinguish between what is fabricated and what is serious,” Peter Leuprecht said. “I think there has been some progress in that respect.”
ENDS
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