As the trial of the two Rwandan businessmen reaches its third week before the Brussels criminal court, Ephrem Nkezabera, a former banker and Interahamwe leader, presented a detailed financial portrait of his once "model" client, Etienne Nzabonimana, the main defendant in the dock.
With his wire-framed glasses, firm voice and educated locution, a former director at the Rwanda Commercial Bank (BCR) cut an imposing figure in court. Yet his position is a delicate one, given that he is also accused and detained in Belgium under the law of universal jurisdiction. Ephrem Nkezabera even ignored the advice of his lawyer not to come and testify, on 26 May, in the trial of Etienne Nzabonimana and Samuel Ndashyikirwa.

His lawyer Gilles Vanderbeck, who is also defending Ndashyikirwa, felt it would not be wise for his client to expose himself while his case is being processed, but his client "talks a lot and wants to talk". And Nkezabera is not just anybody: until the end of the genocide, he was also the president of the Interahamwe militia's national commission of financial affairs *see IJT n° 25+. Since 1998, he has been one of the main informers for the Prosecutor at the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda (ICTR). Forty hours of his testimony are kept under seal in the ICTR archives.

Nkezabera attested to the financial weight of the most successful businessmen in the dock, Nzabonimana. He had nothing to say about Ndashyikirwa. "I managed Mr Nzabonimana's affairs personally because his business was worth close customer care," began the banker. "When I was made director of the BCR's local branches in 1998, I got to know him, and given the success of his business, gave him certain advantages, in particular a bank loan to build a building in Kigali with the aim of consolidating his financial guarantees." The loan, which was granted at the beginning of 1992, was for the sum of 27 million Rwandan francs (270,000 USD at the time), added to which were two to three million "cash loans" in order to pay for beer crates and small vans, which were "rapidly paid off". Clearly, "Nzabonimana was a very reliable client".

The court president wanted to know more about Nzabonimana's ties with the prefect Rwagafilita, whose name appears in the Kibungo case file from as early as 1995. "Rwagafilita was a very distinguished MRND member [the party in power] in the region. He was in charge of looking after members, including Nzabonimana." "Could offering support for the party be rewarded with benefits for the businessman?" asked the president. "Yes, this could have been normal in the context of Rwanda, with such differing expectations," replied the banker, elusively. A member of the jury plainly asked whether political colours affected business. "Non-political clients received bigger loans. I never gave bad loans," stated Nkezabera, professionally. It was not until the next question, this time emphasized by the complainant, that the banker began to seem worried to be questioned about his own support for the MRND. His tone was firm: "I never gave credit on the exclusive basis [of ethnic groups]. I was first and foremost a salesman. Some opponents were given ten times more than Nzabonimana had. If you don't mind me saying, the development of his credit was not linked to his membership of the MRND." Nzabonimana, in spite of this testimony, continues to deny being a member of that party. Witnesses' barracks

The controversy started on 26 May by Cédric Vergauwen, the lawyer for Nzabonimana: "The witnesses are all staying at a Brussels barracks, and we have found out that there are great debates held there. I am also astonished to hear that Didace Nyilinkwaya, the prosecutor of Kibungo who coordinated the Belgian rogatory commissions, is also staying at the barracks." The court president Karin Gérard considered "that if Mr Didace is staying at the barracks, to calm these debates it would be preferable if he stayed at a hotel. For the rest, we cannot do any better." She pointed out that her budget was 240,000 euros.