A sergeant, Gatete, belonged to the escort team of the Minister for Interior Security, Sheih Mussa Fazil Harerimana. He is accused of having committed a premeditated murder of Lieutenant François Munyemana in Kicukiro, a district in Kigali. The officer was a prosecution witness in the genocide trial against Minister Harerimana before the semi-traditional Gacaca Court of the Biryogo sector, Kigali District.
According to a former judge who requested for anonymity, Munyemana had given evidence on the responsibility of Fazil Harerimana in the organization of Fanya Fujo Uone (FFU), a militia which was involved in the 1994 Tutsi genocide. According to him, the president of the court was dismissed before the end of the trial, a little later the file disappeared and the minister was acquitted by the court of the Gabiro cell, as a simple looter.
On the fateful day at 10:00 p.m. Gatete left his boss house without telling anyone and met Munyemana where the latter had parked his car. After a short argument, he forced him to sit on the ground, a few meters from there, armed with his gun, shot the victim twice. The defendant admitted having shot dead the victim but claims that it was done after a provocation. His lawyer, Project Kaburege, however, wants the crime to be reduced as manslaughter instead murder.
SRE/PB/MM/SC/GF
© Hirondelle News Agency