It is the second time that these two, indicted by the ICTR and made public in June, are arrested. Their first arrest had occurred at the end of July following a first arrest warrant issued by the ICTR.
The vague terms of this warrant had, however, not allowed to maintain the two men in detention. The Court of Appeal of Paris, estimating that they had sufficient guarantees of representation, had decided on 1 August to release them.
A new arrest warrant was issued by the ICTR on 14 August and was transmitted by the means of the French embassy in Tanzania. In accordance with this text, the two men should be handed over to the ICTR. The new arrest of the two men was confirmed at the Hirondelle agency by the chief of prosecutions of the ICTR, Silvana Arbia.
In addition, with the consent of Paris, the prosecutor of the tribunal asked for the transfer of the cases of these two men so that they are tried in France. This motion was sent to an ICTR chamber which has not yet returned its decision. Rwanda has already stated its opposition to these transfers, wanting to try the two men themselves.
The ICTR, which has already tried 33 persons and currently has 29 of trial, must finished its first instance trials by 31 December 2008. Six accused are still awaiting to be tried. Some of them could be transferred to other courts, including Rwanda which recently abolished the death penalty.
PB-ER/AT/MM
© Hirondelle News Agency