The former Rector of Christ the King College claimed before the UN Court that he had not betrayed his priestly vows.
Calmly and clearly. he countered point-by-point the charges alleged against him by the prosecutor, and, finally, he showed that the witnesses
who had come to testify against him coordinated their testimonies.
The Chamber, charged with trying him will travel, with the parties, to Rwanda, in Nyanza next week to make site visit of the alleged crimes
committed by the accused.
In the trial known as "Military II", the first witness for genocide-accused Major François Nzuvonemeye testified and claimed before
the Chamber his high regard for the former officer of the reconnaissance battalion.
The witness also exonerated Nzuvonemeye, and also the men of this elite unit, from any responsibility in the genocide. Five other witnesses are
scheduled to testify for the accused next week.
The "Karemera Trial", which was deferred for two weeks, only resumed on Tuesday due to lack of witnesses Monday.
Meanwhile, the Appeals Chamber will on 29 August deliver its judgment for Lieutenant Colonel Tharcisse Muvunyi, sentenced in first instance to 25
years in prison. The judgement will be preceded by hearing of an appeal of François Karera, former prefect of rural Kigali, sentenced to life in prison on 7 December 2007.
In another development, the Final Court of Appeal in France annulled the extradition to Rwanda of Claver Kamana rendered by the Court of Appeal of
Chambery.
The extradition, if it would have succeeded, would have been the first one accepted by France to Rwanda. The ICTR Prosecutor had used the initial
transfer approval to Rwandaof Kamana as among his basis to transfer a genocide accused, Yusuf Munyakazi, a former businessman, held at the UN
Detention Facility in Arusha.
PB/MM/SC