Nyarugenge Intermediate Court on Wednesday October 5, ruled to conduct behind closed doors 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 facing two charges; soliciting or offering sexual favours, and harassment. The court ruled to conduct the hearing in camera arguing that the casefile includes elements that can endanger public morals as well as affect the people involved in the case including witnesses and victims. “The dossier involves youth whose future needs to be protected and during the trial, the defendant is allowed to provide details of events the way they occurred and some might endanger public morals,” the judge said. The request of holding the trial in camera was suggested by prosecution at the beginning of the trial, just like was the case during the pre-trial hearings. Ishimwe and his lawyer Emeline Nyembo had protested the request by prosecution, arguing that closing the trial to the public isn’t necessary because all the witnesses who needed to be protected were already assigned codes, that will be used during the trial to avoid disclosing their identity. In addition, Ishimwe said that Miss Rwanda was a big project which has been followed by millions of people who deserve to know what the investigation has found among other reasons. His lawyer, Nyembo also said that the defendant deserves proper justice and his right to be tried in public as prescribed by the law on criminal procedure. However, prosecutors said that not all people who are mentioned in the case have been given codes so they can’t risk disclosing their names in the public. They added that the criminal procedural laws provide for exceptions under which cases can be held behind closed doors. Initially, the trial was supposed to start at 8:30 but was postponed to 10am after one of Ishimwe’s lawyers (Kayijuka Ngabo) failed to arrive in court on time. Following a closed-door session that lasted at least seven hours, the judge ruled that the verdict will be pronounced on October 28. Ishimwe was arrested on April 26 and his trials from pre-detention have been conducted in camera.
