TRIAL ADJOURNED AS WITNESS FALLS SICK

Arusha, February 28, 2003 (FH) - The trial of six individuals accused of genocide crimes at Butare (South Rwanda) was on Friday adjourned briefly at the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda after the nineteenth prosecution witness fell ill. RE, who was nearing completion of her testimony, informed the trial chamber that she was sick as the morning session began.

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"I am unwell and I am not in a position to answer questions this morning," the witness said. She has been in the witness stand since Monday. RE was supposed to be crossexamined on Friday morning by Kanyabashi's lead counsel Michel Marchand of Canada. The presiding judge of Trial Chamber Two William Hussein Sekule adjourned the trial to Monday March 3rd, with the crossexamination of RE by Michel Marchand. She will then conclude her testimony with reexamination by the prosecution attorney Adesola Adeboyejo of Nigeria. Adeboyejo also applied for a change in the initial order in which the next prosecution witnesses were to appear. She indicated that witness FAP, who was to testify after RE, is also unwell and asked if she could replace it with another dubbed RJ. The chamber granted the application. The Butare trial groups former Minister for Family and Women's Affairs Pauline Nyiramasuhuko and her son Arsène Shalom Ntahobali, former Butare prefects Sylvain Nsabimana and Alphonse Nteziryayo and former mayors of Ngoma Joseph Kanyabashi and Muganza, Elie Ndayambaje. The trial is before Trial Chamber II composed of Judges William HusseinSekule of Tanzania (presiding), Arlette Ramaroson (Madagascar) Winston Churchill Matanzima Maqutu (Lesotho)PJ/CE/FH (BT0228e)