{The President of LIPRODHOR, a Rwandan human rights body, Aloys Munyangaju, has clarified that two of its members who were arrested over the weekend were not government critics as several reports are indicating.He instead confirmed the Police’s version that the duo, identified as Evariste Nsabayezu and Daniel Uwimana were arrested on Saturday on suspicion of forging their colleagues’ signatures on a petition document in a bid to force a General Assembly that sought to oust the organization’s leadership.}
However, although they are both charged for the same crime, Nsabayezu was released on Monday while his associate is still held in detention.
When pushed for more details on the process of his release, Munyangaju declined to provide information, citing that it would jeopardize ongoing investigations.
“We trust that the authorities are doing their job. It is a case of forgery which is punishable by law, but whether one of them is released or both, it is not our problem, as long procedure is properly respected”, Munyangaju told journalists at a press conference yesterday.
Reports in the press that they were arrested for being overly critical of the government are not true. People must first verify their facts before they come up with all sorts of allegations.
The embattled human rights body has gone through a tumultuous period this year, with its workers having gone six months without pay, while it also owes millions in arrears to its landlord in a Kigali apartment.
According to the LIPROFHOR Executive Secretary, Elie Sinzabakwira, the arrested duo had joined a faction of employees that had grown wary of not being paid and had become sternly critical of the body’s leadership over its handling of staff.
“Once they failed to convince the employees and other board members to sign the petition the document, they decided to do it for themselves. This is wrong. We had had several meetings showing them the difficulties which faced the organisation and had explained to them why we had failed to pay them on time “ but it does not justify forging documents, Sinzabakwira said.
In a statement from the Rwandan Police Spokesperson, Celestin Twahirwa, investigations are ongoing to gather more evidence in a forgery offense that contravenes articles 609 and 610 of the country’s penal code.
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