The statement was made to AFP journalist, who asked him about the recent remarks of OIF Secretary General Michaëlle Jean about the Rwigaras’ case.
On November 8, Michaëlle who is the OIF Executive Secretary until January 2019, when the newly-elected secretary Louise Mushikiwabo takes over, wrote on Twitter about the case of Diane Rwigara and her mother Adeline Mukangemenyi.
She said, “Let us take a close look at the lawsuit filed in Rwanda against the freedom activist Diane Rwigara and her mother provisionally released in early October, accused in a Kigali court of ‘inciting insurrection’”.
It is a statement that displeased many Rwandans on social media who criticized her.
While in Paris this week, President Kagame criticized Michaëlle’s statement, saying that the case has nothing to do with OIF.
“Our judiciary is independent; everybody should know. This issue is not in line with Francophonie,” he said.
President Kagame was attending the Paris Peace Forum, held in Paris in France. He was one of the 70 state and government officials from all over the world attending the event.
Many people have wanted to relate the case of Diane Rwigara and her mother, Mukamemanyi Adeline Rwigara to politics, an aspect Rwanda considers an invalid inference.
Diane is accused of committing offenses against state security and forgery of registration documents in the build up to presidential elections in 2017. Her mother is also accused of inciting public insurrection, divisionism and sectarianism.
The prosecution sentenced them both to 22 years in prison if the court finds them guilty of the charges facing them in the trial to be read on December 6, 2018.
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