12.07.12 - ICTR/NGIRABATWARE - DEFENCE OF ALIBI FOR NGIRABATWARE GETS DOCUMENTARY SUPPORT

Arusha, July 12, 2012 (FH) – The International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda (ICTR) has admitted into evidence several documents filed to support the defence of alibi for ex-Rwandan Planning Minister Augustin Ngirabatware over his absence from Rwanda during genocide.

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The documentary exhibits include records of interview given by the accused to Radio France Internationale in Dakar on May 4, 1994, Radio Rwanda Broadcasts of April 11 and 16, 1994 and a document from Benin Foreign Affairs Ministry dated June 23, 2011.

“The Chamber finds that these documents have sufficient probative value for admission. Accordingly, the Chamber grants the admission into evidence as may relate to the accused’s alibi,” reads part of the decision.

According to the decision, the defence had sought the admission of records of the interview to corroborate Ngirabatware’s alibi that was in Senegal during such time and confirmed the authenticity of his French visa delivered in Dakar on May 7, 1994.

For Radio Rwanda broadcasts, the decision shows, corroborate the testimony of accused on the existence of the cabinet meeting in Kigali and the Note Verbale indicates that he received a visa from the Consulate of Benin in Dakar on May 6, 1994.

But the prosecution suggests otherwise. The indictment claims that during the period in question, Ngirabatware was in Rwanda, particularly in his home prefecture of Gisenyi in the Northwest, playing key roles in the killings of Tutsis.

He is alleged to have transported offensive weapons to the prefecture for distribution to Interahamwe militias for the purpose of eliminating Tutsis and convened several meetings to incite members of the population to take part in the massacres.

The decision comes as the Chamber was preparing to receive closing briefs from the parties scheduled for July 23 and 24, 2012.

FK/GF