Rwandan opposition leader jailed for treason

http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2012/oct/30/rwandan-opposition-leader-jailed-treason

Version 0 of 1.

Rwanda's top Hutu opposition leader has been jailed for eight years for treason and denying genocide, in a case her lawyers said was politically motivated.

Victoire Ingabire, leader of the unregistered FDU-Inkingi party, was found guilty of two of six charges against her: conspiring to harm the country through war and terror, and minimising the genocide. She had pleaded not guilty.

She was accused of transferring money to FDLR Hutu rebels and of questioning why no Hutu victims were mentioned in a genocide memorial. More than 800,000 people were killed when a Hutu-led government and ethnic militias went on a 100-day killing spree in April 1994, indiscriminately killing Tutsis and moderate Hutus.

Ingabire, a Hutu, returned to Rwanda in January 2010 from exile in the Netherlands to contest presidential elections but was barred from standing after being accused of crimes linked to genocide denial. The vote was won overwhelmingly by President Paul Kagame.

In mid-April this year Ingabire began to boycott the trial, saying her trust in the judiciary had waned. Iain Edwards, Ingabire's British lawyer, argued that the evidence against her was fabricated and that some of the charges were against Rwanda's constitution.

Edwards said Ingabire would appeal against the verdict. "I'm not surprised, [but I am] disappointed," he said. "I firmly believe that she should have been acquitted of all of the counts on the indictment."

There was no immediate reaction from members of her party. A handful of her supporters who were in court left quietly after the verdict. Some western diplomats also attended the session, which lasted about four hours.

Kagame's final presidential term expires in 2017. He has led his country's recovery from the genocide, receiving praise for his efforts to transform Rwanda into a middle-income country by 2020. But critics accuse him of being authoritarian and of trampling on media and political freedoms. He rejects the accusations.

"Political space in Rwanda barely exists, I would say, for opposition parties in the real sense of the word," said Carina Tertsakian, senior researcher in the Africa division of Human Rights Watch. "The verdict today is the culmination of a long and flawed trial for Victoire Ingabire which included several charges which in our view were politically motivated."

Phil Clark, a lecturer at the University of London's School of Oriental and African Studies, said the prosecution of Ingabire sent a message to other Rwandan political groups. "I think this verdict will certainly cause concerns that if they contest they may find very serious charges brought against them as well," he said. "It sends a warning to other parties who may want to run in future elections."