09.11.11 - FRANCE/RWANDA - FRENCH COURT UPHOLDS PRESUMPTION OF INNOCENCE IN RWANDAN CASE

9 November 2011 By

Paris, November 9, 2011 (FH) - A Bordeaux court on Tuesday ruled that French associations publicly accusing Rwandan doctor Sosthène Munyemana of genocide had violated his right to be presumed innocent, since there exists no final judgment against him.

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"The right to be presumed innocent takes precedence over the right to freedom of expression since it concurs with the right to a defence," the court said.

Munyemana brought the case against French association Cauri and other members of the "Collectif girondin pour le Rwanda" who demonstrated in front of his workplace on January 30, 2010, with placards saying "no impunity for genociders".

Munyemana was found guilty in absentia by a gacaca court (Rwandan community court) in 2008 and sentenced to life in jail. But the French court said the gacaca verdict could not be considered definitive, since Munyemana was not present at his trial and the means of appeal were unknown.

In France Munyemana has never been indicted, although various associations including the Collectif girondin pour le Rwanda lodged a complaint against him in 1995 for his alleged participation in the genocide.

FP/ER/GF/JC