Trial of senior MRND officials resumes today

The International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda (ICTR) will today resume the hearing of a case involving three ex – senior officials of the former MRND ruling party and another case of former businessman Gaspard Kanyarukiga. The trial will begin with the party’s former Secretary General Joseph Nzirorera whose case was adjourned last year after the defense side lined up 12 witnesses. The joint trial with co-accused, Mathieu Ngirumpatse and Edouard Karemera former President and Vice-President of the party respectively, will continue until March 2010 according to media reports. The trial opened in September 2005 with the three former politicians being held responsible for their role in the 1994 Genocide against the Tutsis. Since mid last year, Ngirumpatse’s poor health derailed the process, forcing the court to suspend proceedings for several months. Reports add that because of his ill-health, Ngirumpatse’s trial is currently conducted half-day to enable the former MRND president attend the proceedings. Meanwhile, the ICTR will today also resume the trial of Gaspard Kanyarukiga, a former businessman from the former Commune Kivumu, in the Western Province. The trial which will see the accused start his defence had the Prosecution close its submissions in September last year after fielding eleven witnesses. At the time, prosecution said that Kanyarukiga is responsible for the death of thousands of civilians at Nyange parish. Born in 1945, Kanyarukiga was arrested in South Africa in 2004 and transferred to the UN detention facility in Arusha. The same killings at Nyange parish led to the life sentence for former parish priest of the church, Athanase Seromba. Ends

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Trial of senior MRND officials resumes today