In the hearing on Monday,a panel of judges announced the appeal case was withdrawn pursuant to the defendants’ request dated August 26.
The singer was asked if he still wished to withdraw his appeal as he requested in his letter not read immediately. He confirmed his willingness to withdraw his appeal and the Court took note of it.
Kizito Mihigo’s lawyer, Antoinette Mukamusoni told IGIHE that she was surprised of Kizito’s letter requesting that his appeal be withdrawn without pointing out the reasons behind the move.
“After seeing his letter, I wondered why he had let us request for an appeal in the first place just to withdraw it in the end. Later, I went to him, asked him what pushed him to make the request,” Mukamusoni explained.
According to Mukamusoni, Kizito was polite and nice, while answering her questions. He said “I pled guilty and the court sentenced me according to law. Clearly, I would not be bringing anything new at the court. What would I be pleading? What would I be challenging against the High court?”
Kizito added that he took the decision to withdraw his appeal since he was not having any new facts.
Parole behind the appeal’s withdrawal
Jean Felix Rudakemwa- a lawyer, who represented popular convict Dr. Leon Mugesera, was convinced that there was a motive behind Kizito Mihigo’s decision to withdraw his appeal.
Parole, more commonly known as conditional release might be a motive.
Conditional release is possible if you served at least one quarter of your sentence before it is considered. If you are serving more than 5 years, parole will be considered once two thirds of the sentence has been served.
Kizito has so far served 4 years and five months. This means that in the next two years, he will have served the required two thirds, and be eligible for a conditional release.
Asked on this, Kizito Mihigo’s lawyer said that she did not know whether it was part of his plans.
“I have no idea whatsoever of his plans, unless he decides to let me know. I only know that his reasons to withdraw the appeal were that he had no tangible facts,” Mukamusoni said.
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