Court rejects Mudenge’s plea to postpone trial

A plea by Col Deogene Mudenge to have his trial postponed for seven months as he undergoes medical treatment was rejected by Court yesterday. The president of the Military High Court (MHC), Brig. Gen. Peter Bagabo, said that Mudenge and his lawyer failed to provide concrete evidence to support their case. The trial will continue tomorrow. “Their request that the case be postponed for a period of seven months so that Colonel Mudenge can get treatment cannot be justified,” Bagabo ruled. “The court has thus decided that the trial will proceed as he continues to get treatment”, Court heard that last week, Mudenge’s doctor testified that his patient is given injections every Thursday which have side effects for two days. The woes of the embattled former head of the Rwanda Utilities Regulatory Agency (RURA) started in July last year when he was arrested and charged with “gross indiscipline” after threatening a man in Gasabo with a firearm. Military prosecutors and two civilians have sued for damages in a case which involves assault, in addition to misappropriation of state property under his management. He initially won the assault case but the victims (two men); one from Gasabo and another from Bugesera, appealed. Ends

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Court rejects Mudenge’s plea to postpone trial