Nyarugenge Intermediate Court, will on October 5, start hearing in substance the trial of Dieudonne Ishimwe commonly known as ‘Prince Kid’. Ishimwe, the CEO of Rwanda Inspirational Backup, the company that organised the Miss Rwanda beauty pageant, is pinned on two charges- which are soliciting or offering sexual favours, and harassment. Ishimwe was arrested on April 26 over charges related to sexual abuse towards contestants of the Miss Rwanda beauty pageant on various occasions. He appeared before the court for the first time on May 11. His trial has been held in camera (closed to the public); a decision that came after the judge said that the dossier includes elements that can endanger public morals. However, during the bail ruling on the appeal that took place on June 3, the judges briefly pointed out some key factors presented by both sides. These included text messages and voices presented by the prosecution, and these were pinning Ishimwe against crimes he is suspected of. His lawyer however defended him denying all crimes using various articles and testimonies. In addition, at that time, the court said that some evidence will be discussed during the trial in substance. Those factors to be verified include letters that were written during the investigation by former Miss Rwanda, Elsa Iradukunda among others. Iradukunda and her fellow Miss Rwanda contestants wrote letters to dismiss reports that Ishimwe had in any way sexually offended any of them while or after participating in the beauty contest on different occasions. The actions that later resulted in her arrest over various charges include, influencing assistants in judicial organs, giving false testimony as well as use of forged documents. However Kicukiro Primary Court, on May 25, granted bail to Iradukunda, Miss Rwanda 2017, after the prosecution withdrew their case on pre-trial detention. Ishimwe started organising Miss Rwanda in 2014 and had seen the annual event become one of the most popular in the country. On May 9 however, the government announced the official halt of his company from organising the annual beauty pageant, following several allegations of misconduct and abuse towards contestants.
