DEFENCE DENOUNCES DEFECTS IN INDICTMENT

Arusha, 25 October 2002 (FH) - The defence of the priest Emmanuel Rukundo, accused of genocide, has denounced the defects in his indictment, on Friday, at the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda (ICTR). French lawyer Philippe Moriceau, who is defending the clergyman, said the indictment against his client "is an intellectual speculation" whichcontains nothing to support the charges.

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According to the lawyer, the document concerned bears no relation to an indictment except in appearance. "This is not something legal, but (at a pinch) historical" he said. According to Moriceau, the indictment's relation "to the law is that of darkness to the light". Moriceau particularly criticised the prosecution for having put in facts relating to the period for which the ICTR is not responsible. Mr Moriceauexplained that the prosecution induced crimes "through a supposition relating to before 1994" [when the Rwandan genocide occurred in which around one million people were killed. ]The indictment stipulates for example, "Emmanuel Rukundo was a notorious extremist. He hated Tutsis. Ever since 1973, or around that date, he fought his Tutsi colleagues at the seminary in Kabgayi". The deputy prosecutor Gregory Townsend, US, replied that the prosecution had wanted to put the charges into context, by giving the facts before 1994. Father Emmanuel Rukundo, 43 years, was chaplain in the military camps of the Rwandan army in 1994. He was one of three catholic priests detained by the ICTR along with Fathers Hormisdas Nsengimana and Athanase Seromba. An Anglican bishop, Samuel Musabyimana, and an Adventist pastor Elizaphan Ntakirutimana are also detained in Arusha. Emmanuel Rukundo was arrested in Switzerland in July 2001 and transferred to Arusha on 20 September. His trial has not yet started. The defence request is being heard by Trial Chamber III of the ICTR presided over by Judge George Williams of St Kitts and Nevis. JA/AT/CE/FH (AT-1025e)