The Media Trial judges didn't want to hear about Hassan Ngeze's witness intimidation. On August 17, Hassan Ngeze sent fellow-inmate Omar Serushago an unsigned letter denouncing his proposed testimony against Ngeze as « false evidence » and none-too-subtly reminding him « that our life on this earth is very short. » At trial, Serushago testified he knew the letter came from Ngeze because the go-between, a Tanzanian imam, told him so, and because the letter contained information only Ngeze knew. That wasn't enough to convince the judges, so, on November 30, the prosecution called Claude Bouchard, the deputy commander of the UN Detention Facility, to testify about what the imam told him about the letter.

The Impenitent
John Floyd, Hassan Ngeze's lawyer, strenuously objected that Bouchard's testimony would violate the priest-penitent privilege between the imam and Ngeze. That prompted a spirited theological debate between Judge Asoka Gunawardana and Floyd about whether imams are akin to father confessors. Floyd invoked the principle that all religions be treated equally under international law. Judge Gunawardana doubted whether the letter or the act of sending the letter had any religious significance. On a more practical level, Judge Gunawardana questioned whether the imam hadn't waived any penitent privilege by disclosing the information to Bouchard. Floyd admitted, « I do think the imam made a mistake. » But he insisted only Ngeze could waive the privilege.
In response, lead prosecutor Stephen Rapp argued that the penitent privilege protected speech not conduct. « If Mr. Ngeze confessed about something he did in Gisenyi *during the genocide+, I don't think we could call *Bouchard+. ... But the issue is one of action not confession. » Furthermore, he argued that there's a crime-fraud exception to the penitent privilege.
Presiding Judge Navanethem Pillay tried to duck the issues. « If it's not in dispute as to the chain of communication of the letter received from Mr. Bouchard from the imam, we can dispense with the calling of Mr. Bouchard. » Rapp quickly pointed out that the bench had missed the key issue: whether the imam had received the letter from Ngeze. To ignore that « would open the door for all sorts of obstructive communications to go out through people like the imam. » And Rapp reminded the judges that a main purpose of pretrial detention is to protect witnesses.
The judges ruled that Bouchard could take the stand. Mentioning that Bouchard would also testify about comments Ngeze subsequently volunteered, Rapp offhandedly remarked that, of course, there's no such thing as a warden-inmate privilege. Judge Pillay rapped him on the knuckles: « We would not like you to lead evidence from this witness on communications he's privy to from the detainees. It's just an endless arena. » Rapp expressed the hope this ruling would not set a precedent and charged the judges with « sending a very, very unfortunate message when it comes to protecting victims and witnesses, when it comes to who really runs UNDF. »

A Slap on the Wrist
With the preliminary skirmishes settled, Bouchard finally testified « the imam confessed to me he had received a letter that morning at UNDF personally handed to him by Ngeze. The imam told me ... he believed it was a spiritual message to be handed to convict Serushago. »
Under questioning from Floyd, Bouchard recounted the reaction when he first confronted Ngeze with the letter. « He also said he thought Serushago or someone from the Rwandan government had probably written it. » Rapp protested: if the judges permitted Floyd to elicit Ngeze's self-serving comments from Bouchard, then he should have the right to elicit Ngeze's self-incriminating statements from Bouchard. As a result, Judge Pillay stopped Floyd's line of questioning.
On cross-examination, Floyd suggested Bouchard might have misunderstood the imam's confession because of his « broken English. » Bouchard, who is French-Canadian, switched to English for the rest of his testimony. Then, Floyd tried a different tack, arguing the imam had been intimidated into confessing: « So everybody had a gun but the imam. » Bouchard calmly replied, « Actually none of us had a gun. » Undeterred, Floyd suggested the security officer who discovered the letter could have typed it himself. Bouchard quipped, « Not unless he has a very fast learning ability of Kinyarwanda. » Finally, Floyd charged his client was still being sanctioned for the letter. Bouchard pointed out the « Registrar himself, » Adama Dieng, had lifted the suspension of Ngeze's communication privileges after eight days.
By the end of the hearing, it had become clear that neither the judges nor the Registrar had the stomach for curbing Ngeze's intimidation, even though they were well aware that Ngeze continues to harass Tribunal staff with threatening emails. It just goes to prove who's running this asylum.