ARRESTED INVESTIGATOR TRANSFERRED TO UN PRISON

Arusha, May 25, 2001 (FH) Arrested International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda (ICTR) defence investigator Siméon Nshamihigo was on Friday transferred to the UN prison in Arusha, after Tanzanian authorities handed him over to the ICTR, reports the independent news agency Hirondelle. The ICTR had already issued a 30-day provisional detention order for the suspect, who is being investigated for genocide.

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Nshamihigo was arrested by Tanzanian police last Saturday, at the request of the Tribunal. The Tanzanians were holding him on immigration charges, but the ICTR on Monday issued the detention order and made an official request for custody of the suspect. Before his arrest, Nshamihigo was working under an assumed name, using a Democratic Republic of Congo passport. The Tanzanian prosecutor in the immigration case on Friday asked an Arusha court to withdraw the immigration charges. This request was granted. Nshamihigo was then brought to the gates of the ICTR, where Tanzanian and UN authorities exchanged documents. The suspect, dressed in a blue suit and appearing calm, was handcuffed, transferred to a UN vehicle and taken under escort to the ICTR detention facility. Nshamihigo was prosecutor for the southern Rwandan region of Cyangugu at the time of the 1994 genocide. Before his arrest he had been working for the defence team of former Cyangugu military commander Samuel Imanishimwe, currently on trial before the ICTR. JC/FH (NG0525e)