\nArusha, April 24, 2007 (FH) \u2013 The former magistrate Simeon Nshamihigo did not order the murder of a Tutsi priest in 1994, a witness Tuesday stated at the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda (ICTR).
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\nAccused of genocide and numerous assassinations, Nshamihigo, a former senior prosecutor in Cyangugu (southwest Rwanda) has been presenting his defense since Monday.
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\nTuesday, a defense witness, the second out of 50 announced, exculpated him of the assassination of the priest Joseph Bonesha committed in May at the entrance to the commercial center of Kamembe, Cyangugu. \u00a0\u201cI confirm that I did not see it,\u201d the witness declared who indicated that he knew the defendant. \u00a0\u201cThere were many people there. \u00a0In any case, I\u2019m not an idiot to not have seen it. \u00a0I was there and I saw,\u201d he said.
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\nThe witness described how the priest, Joseph Boneza, a Tutsi, came to Cyangugu, was taken out of his vehicle by militiamen armed with clubs, beat him on the head and buried him in a deep grave. \u00a0\u201cFather Boneza was still breathing when he was buried,\u201d the witness stressed who named the authors of the crime. Father Boneza\u2019s killers first took his money, the witness added.
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\nThe prosecutor alleges that \u201cat an unknown date in May 1994, Simeon Nshamihigo went to a roadblock in Kamembe and ordered or encouraged Interahamwe militiamen who were there to kill a Tutsi priest from the Catholic parish of Mibirizi, Father Joseph Boneza, who had to pass through this roadblock in his vehicle.\u201d
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\nThe indictment stipulates that, \u201cSimeon Nshamihigo gave the same instructions at all the roadblocks that he supervised and threatened to kill Interahamwe militiamen who allowed the Tutsi priest to pass.\u201d
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\nThe document adds that \u201clater in the day, Interahamwe militiamen killed Father Joseph Boneza on a roadblock erected at the entrance of Kamembe, not far from the accused\u2019s residence, directed by the Interahamwe Habirora and Patrick Nsengumuremyi.\u201d
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\nThe witness peremptorily declared, \u201cThere were many members of the population among the people that I saw at these places. \u00a0Nshamihigo was not there.\u201d
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\nHe added that the subject of Father Boneza\u2019s murder had been brought up in the semi-traditional Gacaca court, in his province and that no-one had incriminated Nshamihigo.
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\n\u201cAmong the people responsible for Boneza\u2019s murder, I never heard anyone evoke Nshamihigo name,\u201d he said.
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\nThe witness also exculpated Nshamihigo in relation to other assassinations alleged in the indictment each time designating the planners of the crime as well as the Gacaca court in charge of the case.
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\nIn his preliminary brief on Monday, Nshamihigo\u2019s chief counsel, Mr. Denis Turcotte (Canada) accused the prosecutor of \u201cdesperately reaching\u201d to convict Nshamihigo for the murder of known figures in Kamembe such as Father Boneza and others. \u00a0\u201cWe have succeeded in finding direct witnesses at these events. \u00a0These people will say that they were present during the commission of these crimes (\u2026) They will say that Simeon Nshamihigo did not participate in these crimes,\u201d Mr. Turcotte said. \u00a0The Canadian lawyer alleged \u201cthe weakness of the prosecution\u2019s case\u201d and concluded the \u201cfragility of the basis for the case itself.\u201d
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\nNsamihigo\u2019s trial started on September 25, 2006. \u00a0The Prosecutor has called 24 witnesses. \u00a0Nshamihigo was arrested in Tanzania on May 19, 2001. \u00a0He has pleaded not-guilty.
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\nAT\/PB\/KD \u00a0
\n\u00a9 Hirondelle News Agency<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Arusha, April 24, 2007 (FH) \u2013 The former magistrate Simeon Nshamihigo did not order the murder of a Tutsi priest in 1994, a witness Tuesday stated at the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda (ICTR). \u00a0 Accused of genocide and numerous assassinations, Nshamihigo, a former senior prosecutor in Cyangugu (southwest Rwanda) has been presenting his defense […]<\/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-18680","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-hirondellenews"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\n