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| Critic of Rwandan president charged with inciting insurrection | Critic of Rwandan president charged with inciting insurrection |
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| Rwandan authorities have charged a critic of the president with inciting insurrection and forgery, the public prosecutor’s spokesman has said, after she was barred from challenging Paul Kagame in an election in August. | Rwandan authorities have charged a critic of the president with inciting insurrection and forgery, the public prosecutor’s spokesman has said, after she was barred from challenging Paul Kagame in an election in August. |
| Diane Shima Rwigara, a 35-year-old accountant, has repeatedly accused Kagame of stifling dissent and has criticised his Rwandan Patriotic Front’s grip on the country since it fought its way to power to end the genocide in 1994. | Diane Shima Rwigara, a 35-year-old accountant, has repeatedly accused Kagame of stifling dissent and has criticised his Rwandan Patriotic Front’s grip on the country since it fought its way to power to end the genocide in 1994. |
| Kagame won the August election with 98.8% of the vote. | Kagame won the August election with 98.8% of the vote. |
| Rwigara’s mother, Adeline, and her sister Anne have also been charged with incitement and “discrimination and sectarianism”, the prosecutor’s spokesman, Faustin Nkusi, told Reuters on Wednesday. He said the cases had been filed in court on Tuesday and awaited a trial date. | Rwigara’s mother, Adeline, and her sister Anne have also been charged with incitement and “discrimination and sectarianism”, the prosecutor’s spokesman, Faustin Nkusi, told Reuters on Wednesday. He said the cases had been filed in court on Tuesday and awaited a trial date. |
| The three women have been in detention for about two weeks. They were first taken from their home in the Rwandan capital, Kigali, on 30 August on tax evasion allegations related to the family’s tobacco company. That charge was not listed in those filed on Tuesday. | |
| Kagame won international praise for restoring stability in Rwanda and presiding over a rapid economic recovery after the genocide, in which an estimated 800,000 Tutsi people and politically moderate Hutus were killed. | Kagame won international praise for restoring stability in Rwanda and presiding over a rapid economic recovery after the genocide, in which an estimated 800,000 Tutsi people and politically moderate Hutus were killed. |
| Human rights groups say he has muzzled independent media and suppressed potential democratic opponents. Some critics of the government have been imprisoned or killed. | |
| Electoral authorities barred Rwigara from standing in the election, saying she had not submitted enough supporters’ signatures and some of the names she had sent in belonged to dead people. | Electoral authorities barred Rwigara from standing in the election, saying she had not submitted enough supporters’ signatures and some of the names she had sent in belonged to dead people. |
| Rwigara’s brother, Aristide, who lives in the US, has said the charges against the three women are politically motivated and intended to punish the family for Rwigara’s attempted presidential bid. He could not be reached for comment on Wednesday. | Rwigara’s brother, Aristide, who lives in the US, has said the charges against the three women are politically motivated and intended to punish the family for Rwigara’s attempted presidential bid. He could not be reached for comment on Wednesday. |
| Nkusi said the charges were not related to politics. | Nkusi said the charges were not related to politics. |