PROSECUTION WITNESS CONTINUES WITH TESTIMONY

Arusha, April 13, 2004 (FH) –The ninth prosecution witness in the trial offour high-ranking former Rwandan officials continued his testimony beforethe International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda (ICTR) on Tuesday. The former officials and genocide suspects on trial are, former president ofthe MRND, Mathieu Ngirumpatse, his vice president Edouard Karemera, theSecretary- General Joseph Nzirorera, and the former minister of primary andsecondary education, André Rwamakuba.

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The witness identified as GFA has been testifying since March 30th. OnTuesday, Nzirorera's lead counsel Peter Robinson continued cross-examiningGFA, a former member of the Interahamwe militia in Mukingo commune. His evidence touched mainly on Nzirorera whom he described as a “king ofMukingo”. GFA also stated for the second time that the Interahamwe inMukingo commune obeyed all the orders given by Nzirorera. ” Everything hesaid had to be obeyed,” he said. According to the witness, Nzirorera set up the Interahamwe in Mukingocommune in 1991 and supported its activities. He also directed theInterahamwe to bring down all the flags of all other political partieswhich were rivals of the MRND in the commune. During cross-examination, Robinson drew contradictions between the writtenstatement of GFA and his oral testimony. In a written statement dated August 28, 2003, GFA said that he was inside the room where a meeting was held atNzirorera's mother's house but in his oral testimony he testified that hewas outside the house. In response, the witness blamed the ICTR investigators for not recording histestimony properly. He maintained that he was outside the house during themeeting. The cross-examination of GFA continues on Wednesday. Government One trial is taking place in Trial Chamber Three of the ICTRcomposed of Judge Andresia Vaz from Senegal, (presiding) and ad litem judgesFlavia Lattanzi from Italy and Florence Rita Arrey from Cameroon. PJ/CE/FH (GVI''0413e)