Nine members of a faction of PS Imberakuri have been arrested by Police for allegedly inciting rebellion against the government.The suspects, including six men and three ladies, were arrested from a house belonging to Bernard Ntaganda’s mother in Nyamirambo, Kigali, on Sunday. “They were found in possession of documents containing statements calling the masses to rebel against the leadership,” said Theos Badege, the Police spokesman. The arrested had gathered at Ntaganda’s mother’s home under the pretext of consoling the 92-year old woman after her son (Ntaganda) was sentenced to four years in jail by the Supreme Count. The group had reportedly gathered at the old woman’s home two weeks earlier, and she warned them never to return to her house. When they returned, the woman alerted the police who immediately arrived at the scene and arrested them. “They are accused of invasion of privacy and calling for a rebellion against the state. The National Police remind the public that the principle of abiding by the law should be taken seriously as it is meant to protect the public and every individual,” Badege added.“Evidence gathering and investigations are still going on as we are looking at the key role of each and every individual.” Ntaganda is the founder of PS Imberakuri but he was ousted from the Party’s helm after members accusing him of promoting divisionism and associating with terrorists. Following allegations from PS Imberakuri members that Ntaganda had drifted from the party’s core mission and allied with people who were causing insecurity in the country, authorities moved in and arrested him in June 2010. Ntaganda has since been battling his case in the courts until last week when the Supreme Court upheld the High Court’s four year verdict. Ntaganda was found guilty of making damning utterances that called for violence and also sensitising the masses to rebel against government. Some of Ntaganda’s statements included “Tura tugabane niwanga tubimene”, loosely translated to mean “we must share, otherwise we will destroy everything’.In uttering this statement he was referring to the Rwanda Patriotic Front, which, he said, had to share power with his political party, which, according to the prosecution, was tantamount to inciting violence.The court also found him guilty of sensitising the population to rebel against government programmes, including grassroots-based credit savings cooperatives (Umurenge SACCOs)It also found him guilty of inciting ethnic divisions and attempting to organise illegal demonstrations.
