Munyakazi verdict set for next week

The International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda (ICTR) will deliver a judgment in the case of former businessman Yusuf Munyakazi next week. Munyakazi, a former wealthy rice farmer in the Western Province, is charged with Genocide, or complicity in Genocide and extermination as a crime against humanity. ICTR Spokesperson Roland Amoussouga confirmed the date of Munyakazi’s verdict yesterday in a phone interview with The New Times. “I can confirm to you that – that is the date that was set for the judgment,” Amoussouga said. During the closing arguments early this year, the prosecution requested a maximum penalty of life imprisonment. The tribunal accused him of storming Cyangungu Cathedral in the company of militias, and abducted six Tutsi refugees who were taken to Karambu area where five of them were killed. “On April 16 1994, he transported his armed militia to Nyamasheke parish where Tutsi refugees had survived slaughter a day before, forcefully entered the church with militias and killed hundreds of Tutsi survivors using guns, grenades and machetes,” senior trial Attorney Richard Karegyesa said. Munyakazi’s trial started on 22 April, 2009. The prosecutor rested his case on June 4, after having called 12 witnesses and the defence did the same on October 15 after presenting 20 witnesses, including the defendant himself. Ends

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Munyakazi verdict set for next week