\nArusha, 9 July 2009 (FH) - Former Governor of Gitarama, central Rwanda, Augustin Hategeka, who was prosecuted for genocide, was sentenced Wednesday to life in prison by a semi-traditional Gacaca Court in Kigali, reports Hirondelle Agency.\n<\/p>\n
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\nHategeka led the province of Gitarama a few years after the genocide, before being elected mayor of Muhanga, a position which he resigned from in 2007.\n<\/p>\n
\nAccording to the state Rwanda Radio, the former official was found guilty of having had massacred several teachers who had sought refuge in the bishopric of Kabgayi, Gitarama, where he was then in charge of primary and secondary education.\n<\/p>\n
\nHategeka was tried by a gacaca court in Kigali which had travelled from Gitarama for the trial.\n<\/p>\n
\nThe law on the gacaca courts envisages the possibility for a defendant or any other party to challenge the bench of his community to appear before a bench from elsewhere.\n<\/p>\n
\nThe Gacaca Courts are not presided by professional judges but by people considered of high esteem in the society. \n<\/p>\n
\nThe Rwandan Minister for Justice, Tharcisse Karugarama, stated on Tuesday over Radio Rwanda, that the gacaca courts had already tried nearly 1.5 million people.\n<\/p>\n
\nER\/MM\/SC\/GF\n<\/p>\n
\n© Hirondelle News Agency<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Arusha, 9 July 2009 (FH) - Former Governor of Gitarama, central Rwanda, Augustin Hategeka, who was prosecuted for genocide, was sentenced Wednesday to life in prison by a semi-traditional Gacaca Court in Kigali, reports Hirondelle Agency.<\/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-21634","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-hirondellenews"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\n