The defence team of Victoire Ingabire, leader of the opposition party United Democratic Forces (UDF), is getting ready for trial. Ingabire is accused of collaborating with a terrorist organisation, dividing the people of Rwanda and denying the 1994 genocide. But who is actually defending her? Three lawyers are struggling to find their way in this "sensitive and very unclear" case.
Robert Alun Jones
A top British laywer, Jones represented the Spanish government in the famous case against former Chilean dictator Genaral Augusto Pinochet (1998-2000).
The barrister has past experience with Rwanda. He successfully defended Vincent Brown, a Rwandan doctor arrested in London on suspicion of murder during the Rwandan Genocide in 1994. Kigali demanded his extradition. Jones, who had been living for years in the UK, was acquitted in 2009.
Jones will defend Ingabire, not in his own country but in Rwanda.
Iain Edwards
Edwards, a British lawyer with ten years of experience behind him, is specialised in criminal law and human rights. He is fluent in French and also has a particular interest in immigration issues with clients facing the risk of deportation.
Edwards has also been working for the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda in Arusha, Tanzania. His clients are charged with genocide and crimes against humanity arising from the Rwandan 1994 genocide.
“We hope that it will be a fair trial. But it’s far too early to say”, Edwards told RNW on the phone with regards to Ingabire’s case. He sees it as being sensitive and very unclear.
“We have no idea what the schedule looks like, but it seems that the prosecutor has a limited amount of evidence. Ingabire hasn’t even been charged yet. We think that the prosecutor is still trying to find evidence.”
Edwards met with Ingabire in Kigali this year, when he dealt with the imprisonment of her American lawyer Peter Erlinder.
Gatera Gashabana
By proximity, this Rwandan lawyer is probably the most engaged one in Ingabire’s case. He visits her regularly in her cell.
According to Gatera, Ingabire’s imprisonment is "unlawful". Until now, he feels that the judge has not taken his arguments into consideration, he told RNW.
"The accusation is based on a testimony of a person who declared that he and Ingabire had the intention to create a military organisation. This declaration cannot be taken into consideration because this person is also accused. According to our law, this testimony doesn’t have any value”, Gatera argues.
"Furthermore, there are e-mails in which Victoire has written about the military organisation to fight the power in place in our country. But according to our laws, e-mails don’t have any value in court."
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We,re waiting patiently for the fairness of a dictataship justtice.in the country where all powers are held in hands of 1 strong man
Your report re Alun Jones is wrong. He represented Vincent Bajinya who fought extradition from the UK to Rwanda to face genocide charges arising from alleged events in 1994. Extradition was denied due to concerns about the standard of trial that Bajinya (who changed his name to Brown in the UK) would receive in Rwanda and whether for example it would comply with European standards. He was not tried on the genocide allegations and to date he has not been tried. So he remains accused and he has not been acquitted.
The quote of the comments of Iain Edwards also seems dubious. Ingabire and her lawyers have been served with 2,500 pages of evidence. In fact her request for a delay this week is so that she has more time to consider the evidence, which is clearly considerable. The suggestion that the prosecutor has little evidence or that he is still seeking it seems out of date. Of course what the Court makes of the evidence remains to be seen but the idea that there is no evidence or that Ingabire is a political prisoner is clearly nonsense.
Ingabire is in jail for two principle things, first she is an educated hutu, two she is the only person ever dared to challenge the US supported dictatorial and tribalist tyranny which puts Kagame's supporters such as Clinton and Rick Warren in disarray and disbelief. they know very well that if Kagame is ousted by Rwandans then all dirty linens between USA-UK and Kagame will become public and the opportunity of exploiting DRC will end.
I do really not understand why this lady is in jail? She is defending a population that has nobody to defend. She wanted to bring Rwandese together. Is any one who can say that Kagame is innocent? Mme Ingabire, I know you are suffering down there; but remember that, freedom has a cost and you are paying that cost for us. There is one thing the ruling government must be aware in its mind: “One day, One day, the Rwandqns will wake up, they will need to return to their homeland, and that day is coming ;because you have opened the gate. Bikindi sang" Urwanda nu rw'abahutu, ni urw'abatutsi, ni urw'abatwa" . , nihatorwa umutwa, twemere atuyobore, nihatorwa umuhutu, twemere atuyobore, nihatorwa umututsi, twemere atuyobore; Kuki bakwangira ko wowe watorwa? Why the Tutsi must think that they are only the victims of the Rwandese war which started by the Tutsi in 1991? One day, trust me or not. One day ... we will return in peace, hopeful you will still be there to lead our returning home. Be brave and pray. May God protect you? E.H.
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