27.11.12 - RWANDA /NORWAY - PROSECUTOR WANTS RWANDAN GENOCIDE SUSPECT JAILED 21 YEARS

Arusha, November 27, 2012 (FH) – The prosecution in Norway’s first genocide trial on Monday requested a 21-year jail term for a Rwandan accused of complicity in the murder of 2,000 people in 1994, according to press reports. 

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Sadi Bugingo, a former businessman in eastern Rwanda, is accused of attending meetings during which killings were planned and ordered, of helping to organize massacres, and of providing transport for the killers. Prosecutor Marit Formo told the court there were no mitigating circumstances, according to Rwandan daily the New Times.

Bugingo is charged in connection with several events in April 1994 in the former Rwandan prefecture of Kibungo, including killings in an administrative building, in a catholic church and several times of individuals who had taken refuge in a hospital.

Bugingo, 47, was working as a cleaner before his arrest last year. He pleaded not-guilty at the start of his trial on September 25. His lawyer is expected to present closing arguments for the defence on Wednesday.

Kigali had wanted Bugingo extradited to Rwanda, but Norwegian authorities rejected the request on grounds that he had acquired Norwegian nationality. Bugingo arrived in Norway in 2001, joining his family there. ER/JC