\nArusha, November 6th, 2002 (FH), The so-called \u2018Cyangugu\u2019 trial was adjourned on Wednesday until 20 January 2003, during the defence of the former commandant of Karambo camp in the Cyangugu region (south west Rwanda), Samuel Imanishimwe. The adjournment was announced at the end of the questioning of the 20th defence witness, known as \u2018PBA\u2019 to protect his identity.\n<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
\nThe witness has given evidence on behalf of the accused since Tuesday in front of the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda (ICTR). \u2018PBA\u2019 had supported the defence of alibi, which was first suggested on 15 October, saying that the accused had been at a security meeting in Bukavu (in former Zaire) on 12 April 1994. It was the witness \u2018PKA\u2019, an officer with the former Rwandan Armed Forces, attached to the police station of Cyangugu during the events, who had for the first time mentioned the holding of this meeting. \u201cIt was the Tuesday which followed the assassination of Juv\u00e9nal Habyarimana [6 April 1994]\u201d PBA explained at length. PBA clarified that an officer of the gendarme had accompanied Imanishimwe, and that he himself was also part of the convoy, because he had to go shopping in Bukavu, as usual, for the family of the accused. \u201cWe had arrived at Bukavu around 0930 in the morning and returned to Cyangugu at 1700,\u201d he said. The prosecution alleges, \u201con or around 11April 1994, some refugees were arrested and taken to the military camp of Cyangugu in front of Samuel Imanishimwe, who then gave orders for their execution. \u201d The defence maintains for its part that there were never any arrests tortures or executions of civilians in the camp when their client was in charge between April and July 1994. Imanishimwe is jointly accused with the former prefect of Cyangugu, Emmanuel Bagambiki, and the former minister of transport and communications under the interim government, Andr\u00e9 Ntagerura. They have all pleaded not guilty to the accusations of a massacre of Tutsis during the region between April and July 1994. The trial restarted on September 30th. The chamber hoped that the defence of Imanishimwe would finish its case at the end of January 2003, given the need to save judicial time and \u201cgiven the fact that the mandate of these judges expires next May\u201d. The accused began his defence on 3 October. He is represented by Cameroonian lawyer Marie-Louise Mbida, assisted by Jean Pierre Fof\u00e9 of Congo in the trial, which began on 18 September 2000. After Imanishimwe, it will be Bagambiki\u2019s turn to finally present his case, Ntagerura having already closed his. The lawyer for the ex-prefect, Belgian Vincent Lurquin, has indicated that he intends to bring 31 witnesses to testify in this case. The trial of the Cyangugu group is taking place before the third trial Chamber of the ICTR, presided over by Judge George Lloyd Williams of StKitts and Nevis, and including Judge Yakov Ostrovsky of Russia and Pavel Dolenc of Slovenia. The same court will begin hearing an alternate trial from 18 November. The \u2018Military\u2019 trial groups four former Rwandan army officers who are accused of masterminding the genocide in 1994. GA\/CE\/JA\/FH (CY-1106a)<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Arusha, November 6th, 2002 (FH), The so-called \u2018Cyangugu\u2019 trial was adjourned on Wednesday until 20 January 2003, during the defence of the former commandant of Karambo camp in the Cyangugu region (south west Rwanda), Samuel Imanishimwe. The adjournment was announced at the end of the questioning of the 20th defence witness, known as \u2018PBA\u2019 to […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":64,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[555],"tags":[],"ji_location":[],"class_list":["post-16725","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-hirondellenews"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\n