18.05.09 - RWANDA/GACACA - GACACA: DOCTOR ON TRIAL FOR 1994 GENOCIDE CHARGES

Kigali, 18 May 2009 (FH) -A medical doctor, Marcel Gakire, has been on trial since Sunday before the semi-traditional Gacaca Court from Kigali for his alleged role in the genocide committed against mainly ethnicTutsis in 1994.

The doctor, who is before the gacaca court of  Cyivugiza sector, has been accused of having organized and supervised the genocide, erected and supervised road blocks where Tutsis were killed in the cell of Gatare, in the Rwandan capital.

The defendant, dressed in the pink suit of Rwandan prisoners, has claimed his innocence, only admitting to "being obligated, like everyone" to erect road blocks.

Several witnesses have charged him, including a woman, who has accused him of being responsible for the death of her husband.

"On 14 April 1994, my neighbour Gakire ordered murder of my husband and more than 30 members of his family. He then ordered one of his killers to confine me in his house, while waiting for other instructions", claimed the widow.

The doctor responded by saying that the allegations are false.

The trial will continue next Sunday.

The doctor has already been sentenced to life imprisonment by a conventional court.

SRE/ER/MM/SC

© Hirondelle News Agency

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