Hungry for Truth, Peace and Justice

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At May 24, 2012 at 8:01 PM ,  Anonymous said...

Ingabire: will her request for clemency save her against a life sentence?

Idriss Gasana BYIRINGIRO


Ingabire Victoire Umuhoza, the FDU-Inkingi leader who is facing charges of propagating genocide and threatening state security, among other crimes, wrote to President Paul Kagame
on November 6 last year, seeking clemency even before court passes judgment.

Ingabire’s letter addressed three issues namely: to have an opportunity to explain to the president her side of the story, seek forgiveness and provisional release.

Ingabire is the Chairperson of FDU-Inkingi, an opposition party that authorities have refused to register after linking it to armed rebellion carried out through its armed wing, the Coalition of Defense Forces (CDF), which is allegedly an armed division of her party based in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) that aims at causing insecurity in Rwanda, a crime which attracts the life sentence.

But some people, especially those who followed Ingabire’s stretched trial that took seven months, have insinuated that the move to seek clemency from the President will possibly influence the court verdict in her favour.

On the contrary, the prosecution says Ingabire’s letter to the President is strong evidence of guilt.
“I don’t know from which angle judges can be directed by avowal that she (Ingabire) pleaded for clemency,” Alain Mukurarinda, the spokesperson of general prosecution told The Chronicles.

Saying the first ‘error’ Ingabire made is to request for clemency from the President while at the same time denying all the allegations against her in court, Mukurarinda wondered why Ingabire wanted to be forgiven by the President. “Of course for crimes she committed,” he affirms.

On April 25 prosecution sought to have her serve a life sentence and pay a fine of Rwf1.4 million for six charges including threatening state security, genocide denial and promoting ethnic division.

But Ingabire, who has since refused to attend court hearings citing ‘unfair trial’, denied collaborating with her four co-accused: Major Vital Uwumuremyi, Lt Col Noel Habiyaremye, Col Tharcisse Ntirende and Capt Jean Marie Karuta of the CDF.

The four have all pleaded guilty and asked court for lenience, something the prosecution has rejected, instead asking the panel of high court judges to sentence the quartet to 10 years imprisonment, taking into consideration their guilty plea.

To strengthen his argument, Prosecutor Mukurarinda, who led the group of three prosecutors in the case against Ingabire, notes that Ingabire’s request for clemency is in vain.

“First, her request for mercy was made at the wrong time; she should have basically acknowledged her charges and apologized for them in court. She didn’t do that and also didn’t recognize that the

President only uses his power, provided for by the Constitution, to forgive people who have already been tried and convicted conclusively,” he said.

The life sentence is the highest form of punishment in Rwanda since the death penalty was abolished, and prosecution avers that Ingabire merits the life sentence because of engaging in adverse criminal acts.

“If one defends him/her self by denying all allegations while evidence proves him/her guilty, then what can you do apart from requesting for a tough penalty?” Mukarulinda asks before adding that Ingabire and her lawyers failed to discredit the prosecutors’ evidence before court.

“She (Ingabire) kept saying ‘I shall prove my innocence’, but she finally decided not to go back to court without discrediting any evidence of the cases against her,” Mukurarinda said, in reference to Ingabire’s April 16 refusal to attend court.

The refusal has elicited anxiety in the political and judicial circles, with a lawyer, speaking on condition anonymity saying that if found guilty, the verdict to be delivered on June 29 will be criticized by the international community.


http://www.the-chronicles.net/index.php/news/830-ingabire-will-her-request-for-clemency-save-her-against-a-life-sentence.html

 

At May 24, 2012 at 8:14 PM ,  Anonymous said...

"The refusal to go back to court has elicited anxiety in the political and judicial circles, with a lawyer, speaking on condition anonymity saying that if found guilty, the verdict to be delivered on June 29 will be criticized by the international community", The Rwandan Chronicles.
It is also important to add that Ms. Ingabire never asked for clemency. That's why up to date both the prosecution and the high court court of Kigali refused to hand over the alleged letter to the defendend or her lawyers.
For more info, please read the following article:
ESE KOKO MADAME INGABIRE YASABYE IMBABAZI PEREZIDA KAGAME?
http://rwandarwiza.unblog.fr/2012/05/04/ese-koko-madame-ingabire-yasabye-imbabazi-perezida-kagame/

 

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Name: Mamadou Kouyate

I am an African-American who grew up in the African Great Lakes Region and Western Africa. I am strongly committed to human rights across the African Great Lakes region and beyond. I strongly believe that spreading the untold truth about the ongoing crisis in the African Great Lakes region, no matter how unpleasant it might sound to many people, will surely lead my people to a better future in a timely manner. I am a rare voice of the voiceless people currently living in Rwanda and in DRC. My crucial duties consist in raising awareness about current political deadlock in Rwanda and its tragic consequences to the Rwandan people and the Congolese people as well. Please keep in mind that this is NOT a hate blog. I will not tolerate hate speech or ignorant comments of any kind. All comments are moderated prior to publication. At Hungry for Truth, Peace and Justice (HTPJ) Blog, there is no room for ignorance or hatred.

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