EXPERT'S TESTIMONY COPIED FROM GENOCIDE BOOK, SAYS DEFENCE

Arusha, July 5, 2002 (FH) - French history professor, Jean-Pierre Chrétien's expert testimony report at the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda is simply a "carbon copy" of a book he co-authored on the 1994 genocide, defence lawyer, Rene Martel of Canada, said on Friday. Martel, who is defending genocide suspect, Hassan Ngeze, added that other parts of the testimony were "based on rumours, street talk and café talk".

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The book referred to is: ' Rwanda: Les médias du génocide' (Rwanda: The media of genocide) published in 1995. "No, that is totally incorrect", Chrétien strongly responded. He said that his expert report was a result of an extensive study with three other researchers. He however admitted that the report would have been better had he and his colleagues had sufficient time to prepare. The 500-page expert report presented to court on Monday by Chrétien was co-authored by Rwandan historians Marcel Kabanda and Joseph Ngarambe. French journalist Jean-François Dupaquier also contributed to the report. Chrétien was testifying as an expert witness on the role of the media in the Rwandan genocide. He told the court that he had been working on the African Great Lakes region, a region including Rwanda, for over 40 years. He is a researcher at Centre National de Recherche Scientifique (CNRS) in Paris. Chrétien has completed his testimony. The trial is before Trial Chamber One of the ICTR, composed of Judges Navanethem Pillay of South Africa (Presiding), Erik Møse of Norway and Asoka de Zoysa Gunawardana of Sri Lanka. GG/JA/DO/FH(ME-0705e)