The judge, seized by the investigation judge who wished the imprisonment of close acquaintance of Rwandan President Paul Kagame, followed the requests of the Paris prosecution which wished for bail under judicial supervision. She is forbidden to leave French territory.
Her lawyers, Lev Forster and Bernard Maingain, considered the bail as completely reasonable decision which will allow the investigation to thrive normally and defence to formulate requests so that the truth becomes evident.
Arrested on 9 November in Frankfurt, Germany, in relation to a European arrest warrant issued by French justice, Mrs Kabuye was part of the nine Rwandans against which the French antiterrorist Judge Jean-Louis Bruguiere issued arrest warrants in November 2006. The French judge accuses them of having organized, on order of Paul Kagame, assassination on 6 April 1994, of Habyarimana, which the accused have always denied.
Diplomatic relations between Paris and Kigali were broken off after the issuance of the warrants. New tensions have surfaced after the arrest of Mrs. Kabuye who went to Germany to prepare a private visit of President Kagame. The latter, who attributed the arrest as political, threatened to issue arrest warrants against French officials implicated, in the eyes of Kigali, in the genocide.
On Wednesday, protests were held in Rwanda to support Mrs. Kabuye. The lawyers of Mrs. Kabuye did not wish to comment on the case but, however, underlined that she disputes the charges against her.
"By searching for the truth, we can arrive at peace. It is the whole of Rwanda in its rebuilding which is concerned", Forster told the press.
Mrs. Kabuye' s indictment will allow Kigali to officially have access to the investigation, opened in 1998 following complaints of the families of the three French crew members of the plane that was shot down.
AS/PB/MM/SC/GF
© Hirondelle News Agency