CHAMBER ONE RETIRES TO DELIBERATE ON PASTOR AND SON JUDGEMENT

Arusha, January 31, 2003 (FH) - Trial Chamber One of the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda (ICTR) on Thursday retired for a one month recess to deliberate on the judgement in the trial of SeventhDay Adventist pastor, Elizaphan Ntakirutimana and his son Gerard Ntakirutimana. Pastor Ntakirutimana, 78 was the president of the West Rwanda SeventhDay Adventist (SDA) area.

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He was based at Mugonero in Kibuye province. His son Gerard Ntakirutimana, 45 was a doctor at the SDA hospital in Mugonero. The two are mainly accused of luring ethnic Tutsi refugees into Mugonero SDA church and hospital complex before bringing in militias to kill them. The trial began in September 2001 and closed in August, 2002. Prior to adjourning, the chamber had been hearing the socalled ‘media trial'. The trial groups three former media personalities accused of using the media in Rwanda to fuel antiTutsi sentiments and killings before and during the 1994 genocide. They are; founder member of RadioTélévision Libre des Mille Collines (RTLM), Ferdinand Nahimana and politician and RTLM board member, JeanBosco Barayagwiza and owner and editor of alleged extremist newspaper, Kangura, Hassan Ngeze. He is jointly on trial with two others in what has been called the 'media trial'. This trial will resume on March 3, 2003. It adjourned after two weeks in session during which 11 witnesses testified for Ngeze. This trial began in October 2000. Before the resumption of the media trial, Chamber One will on February 27th and 28th hear the closing arguments in the genocide trial of former Rwandan minister of information, Eliézer Niyitegeka. This trial began in June 2002. Trial Chamber One is composed of Judges Navanethem Pillay of South Africa (presiding), Erik Mose of Norway and Asoka de Zoysa Gunawardana of Sri Lanka. GG/CE/FH(ME'0131e)