Jean de Dieu Bagirishya, the Rwanda Volleyball Federation’s Vice President in charge of Competitions, has been convicted of forgery and sentenced to two years in prison. He was apprehended by the Rwanda Investigations Bureau (RIB) last month, two days after the national women’s volleyball team was disqualified from the Confederation of African Volleyball tournament that Rwanda was hosting. The country’s disqualification was related to fielding four ineligible players, for whom the local federation did not have all the necessary documents to clear them to represent the country. The players were originally from South America and were making their debut appearances for Rwanda in the tournament. On the 8th of this month, Bagirishya was arraigned in the Gasabo Intermediate Court and charged with forgery, an offence which he committed while trying to secure clearance for the players in question so that they could be allowed to play for Rwanda. Appearing before the judge, he pleaded guilty of the offences, a development that sped up the trial. Today, October 13, the court resolved to hand him a 2-year jail term. Normally, in Rwanda, when a person is convicted of forgery, the law says they should be sentenced to prison for a period between five to seven years. However, Bagirishya’s punishment was lighter, because of the mitigating circumstances of his pleading guilty. Also known as Jado Castar, Bagirishya has previously served in different portfolios in the game of volleyball in the country. He is a former head coach of the Kirehe Volleyball Club and an assistant coach for Rayon Sports and Gisagara volleyball clubs. He is also the managing director of local radio station BnB Umwezi.
