ICTR to deliver judgment on four former ministers this year

The International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda (ICTR) will in August, this year, deliver its verdict on cases involving four former cabinet ministers. The ‘Government II’ trial involves; Justin Mugenzi (Trade), Casimir Bizimungu (Health), Prosper Mugiraneza, (Public Service) and Jérome Bicamumpaka (Foreign Affairs). “The Bizimungu judgment will be delivered by August and the Karemera, Ndahimana and Nzabonimana verdicts will be delivered in the fourth quarter of this year,” ICTR president Khalida Rachid Khan told the United Nations Security Council recently. “Almost all our current case load will be completed by the end of this year.” The Government II trial has been on for eight years while the suspects have been in detention for 12 years. Khan also said that judgment for other three cases of former top officials of MRND, the political party largely responsible for the planning and executing the 1994 Genocide against the Tutsi, would be delivered in the fourth quarter of this year. These include; Mathieu Ngirumpatse, who was the MRND president, and his deputy, Edouard Karemera. Mugenzi was arrested in 1999 and his trial opened in 2003, while Bizimungu was apprehended in Kenya in 1999 and transferred to ICTR in 1999. Similarly, Mugiraneza was arrested in 1999 in Cameroon and transferred to ICTR the same year. Bicamumpaka was also arrested in Cameroon in 1999. Ends

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ICTR to deliver judgment on four former ministers this year