The testimony of Noel Habiyaremye on Thursday, March 25, became the third to be heard at the High Court Special Chamber for International and Cross-border Crimes in the ongoing trial involving 21 terror suspects linked to MRCD and its militia wing FLN.
A former member of ex-FAR who later joined FDLR terror group and held senior positions in the group, Habiyaremye said that he came to know Paul Rusesabagina in 2006 through a mutual friend based in Belgium.
Rusesabagina, who is the founding president of MRCD, is among the accused and faces nine counts linked to terrorism.
In his testimony as a prosecution witness, Habiyaremye said that Rusesabagina informed him of his will to form an armed group that would help his party at the time, PDR-Ihumure, to overthrow the Rwandan government.
The witness mentioned that after informing Rusesabagina of how costly forming an armed group would be, the latter responded that he was ready to give all the financial support.
Habiyaremye informed the court that, on different occasions, Rusesabagina sent him a total of more than $8,000 to use in the process of recruiting militiamen.
The witness said that he was eventually arrested in 2009 while in Burundi, together with Col. Tharcisse Nditurende who had deserted FDLR.
Habiyaremye said that they had gone to Burundi to meet Burundian General Adolphe Nshimirimana from whom they sought support to be able to recruit soldiers for Rusesabagina’s outfit.
"We also wanted him to help us make Burundi the temporary base of that armed group,” he said, adding that the Burundian general seemed to welcome the plan but told them he would consult before getting back to them.
Shortly after, the duo was arrested and sent to Rwanda.
"After my arrest, I served a sentence of three and a half years in jail. Since then, I was no longer in touch with Rusesabagina,” he added.
Rusesabagina later allied with other groups of Rwandan exiles and a splinter group of FDLR to form MRCD, for which he was the president.
Habiyaremye was the third prosecution witness to be heard by court after American scholar Michelle Martin who worked as a volunteer at Rusesabagina’s foundation and Constantin Niyomwungere, a former friend who facilitated his arrest.
They were all brought forward by the prosecution to explain what they know about the case of Rusesabagina and the co-accused.
During Thursday’s hearing, all suspects were present in court, except Rusesabagina who informed the court that he would no longer attend the trial after it rejected his request of pushing the trial by six months.
All the 21 individuals involved in the case are accused of crimes related to terrorism, following terror attacks that took place in south-western Rwanda between 2018 and 2019 and claimed nine lives.