Summoned to appear before the ICTR as a witness in another case, Karera complained last week that he had never received the French version of the judgment which sentenced him to life in prison.
Most ICTR judgments are originally in English, a language that a majority of the accused doesn't understand.
According to Roland Amoussouga, the delay was not due to "any negligence by the registry or a general negligence of the ICTR ". He explained that the "Appeal chamber had not classified its judgment among the urgencies to be translated" and that, therefore, "priority had been granted to other judgments and pending requests."
The ICTR Spokesperson added that "translation of the judgments was a technically sophisticated job".
He also claimed that François Karera had never requested the French translation of his sentence prior to testifying last week.
For his part, the convict asserted last Thursday that he had filed several written requests which had remained unanswered.
ER/GF
© Hirondelle News Agency
