\u00a0NZIRORERA CALLS THE FUTURE THIRD JUDGE TO "CAREFULLY" FAMILIARIZE HIMSELF WITH HIS CASE
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\nArusha, April 25, 2007 (FH) \u2013 The defense for Joseph Nzirorera, former Secretary-General of the National Republican Movement for Democracy and Development (MRND) hopes that the eventual third judge takes the time to \u201ccarefully\u201d familiarize himself with the voluminous file for his trial, after the reopening of hearings.
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\nThe withdrawal last January of the Ghanaian judge Emile Francis Short sparked a sine die postponement in this trial known as \u201cKaremera\u201d in which Nzirorera appears with the president of the former presidential party, Mathieu Ngirumpatse and the vice-president of the party, Edouard Karemara.
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\nLast Friday, the Appeals Chamber confirmed the decision of the two remaining judges, Dennis Byron of Saint Kitts and Nevis and the Burkinabe Gustave Kam, to continue the trial with a substitute judge. \u00a0In this trial which has gone on since September, 2005, more than a hundred days of hearing have occurred during which the prosecution has presented 13 witnesses out of the hundred it has scheduled.
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\nIn a request which opened by a polite welcome wish, Mr. Peter Robinson, Nzirorera\u2019s chief American counsel, called on the future third judge who must still be designated by the President of the Tribunal \u201cto carefully study the video recordings of each of the 13 prosecution witnesses, as well as the direct examination and cross-examination.\u201d \u00a0Around 600 hours of recording have already taken place, which accounts for 4 scheduled months of 40 hours per week. \u00a0For written statements, one day of hearings is about 80 transcript pages, which mathematically adds up to around 8,000 pages.
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\nMr. Robinson also asked to the new judge to consult, when viewing the recordings, the prosecution\u2019s evidence in the order they were presented, as per the request dated Tuesday. \u00a0At the beginning of the trial, a recommendation was made by the Chamber to give special attention to witnesses testifying anonymously.
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\nTo make his task easier, the defense lawyer attached to his request annexes in which he gave the history of the trial since the confirmation in April 1998 of the first indictment implicating eight figures including the three MRND leaders.
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\nThe lawyer also addressed, still concerning the judge, the inventory of the numerous decisions made in the trial since then, and invited the judge to also read these carefully before declaring himself ready to sit for the continuation of the trial. \u00a0The date for the hearings to recommence has not been set.
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\nThe trial substantively started in September 2005 after the cancellation of a first trial in which the three MRND figures were prosecuted with another defendant.
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\nProsecuted for crimes against humanity and war crimes, Ngirumpatse, Nzirorera and Karemera have pleaded not-guilty.
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\nBF\/PB\/KD
\n\u00a9 Hirondelle News Agency<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
\u00a0NZIRORERA CALLS THE FUTURE THIRD JUDGE TO "CAREFULLY" FAMILIARIZE HIMSELF WITH HIS CASE \u00a0 Arusha, April 25, 2007 (FH) \u2013 The defense for Joseph Nzirorera, former Secretary-General of the National Republican Movement for Democracy and Development (MRND) hopes that the eventual third judge takes the time to \u201ccarefully\u201d familiarize himself with the voluminous file for […]<\/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-18684","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-hirondellenews"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\n