16.02.09 - RWANDA/FRANCE - KIGALI URGES FRANCE EXPEDITED TRIAL FOR PRESIDENT KAGAME'S CHIEF PROTOCOL

Arusha, 16 February 2009 (FH) -  The Rwandan government has asked the French judiciary to expedite court proceedings against Rose Kabuye, Chief of Protocol of President Paul Kagame,  being investigated by a French Judge for her role in the shooting down of the plane carrying former Rwandan President Juvenal Habyarimana on 6 April, 1994 which triggered the genocide.

Ms Kabuye made an initial session in a hearing to determine the validity of Judge Bruguiere's accusations in Paris on January 28, this year. She returned to Kigali on Saturday, pending further court appearance. She is out on bail.

"While the government of Rwanda welcomes Mrs Kabuye's reunification with her family, it strongly reiterates its wish that the French judiciary expedite court proceedings and does not continue to keep an innocent woman away from her family, home and work,'' stated a Rwandan Ministry of Information statement and copied to Hirondelle Agency.

The Rwandan government claimed in the statement that Mrs Kabuye was innocent and deserved a speedy and fair trial.

Mrs Kabuye was arrested at Frankfurt International Airport on Sunday, November 9 and agreed to be transferred to France.

France is investigating the plane's shooting down because the pilots of the plane were French.

Rwanda has, in turn, accused France of being involved in the rwandan genocide.

SC/GF

© Hirondelle News Agency

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