The accused is expected to plead either guilty or not guilty before the Chamber. Then, a date will be set for the commencement of the trial.
The 59 year old Pastor faces charges of genocide, conspiracy to commit genocide and extermination as a crime against humanity.
ICTR press statement indicated that the accused was given a duty counsel, Tanzanian Francis Musei to assist him during the initial appearance scheduled before Judge Dennis Byron who is also the President of the Tribunal.
According to the indictment issued in September 2001, the accused led several attacks against Tutsis who took refuge in his own parish of Kayenzi, in Bugesera region (east Rwanda).
‘'In July 1994, when Pastor Uwinkindi fled Rwanda, approximately two thousand corpses were found near to the church of Kayenzi,'' elaborated part of the indictment.
Pastor Uwinkindi was born in Rutsiro commune, Kibuye prefecture (west Rwanda) in 1951.
He was arrested on June 30, 2010 in Uganda as he was coming into the country from the neighbouring Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC).
The accused is the second genocide suspect to be arrested in Uganda in less than a year. In October 2009, Uganda apprehended, former Rwandan military officer, Captain Idelphonse Nizeyimana, after he entered the country from DRC.
His case is scheduled to begin in September.
NI/ER
© Hirondelle News Agency