Judges from ICTR are in the country for five days where they will tour crime sites in the case involving former minister of planning Augustin Ngirabatware.
Ngirabatware is accused of involvement in the killings at former Gisenyi prefecture, during the 1994 genocide against ethnic Tutsis.
Three judges and representatives of prosecution and defence will visit 28 sites in Kigali and its environs, Gitarama (Muhanga) in the Southern Province and Gisenyi (Rubavu) in the Western Province.
During Ngirabatware’s case at ICTR trial chamber 1, witnesses asked court to tour the scene of crime in Rwanda. Court granted the request.
The court also granted prosecution permission to bring in another prosecution witness additional to the six who had testified against Ngirabatware, but rejected the defence’s request to get an extra defence witness, to testify that their client was not in the country during the genocide.
The trial chamber 1 defended its decision for allowing the prosecution get another witness, because the defence had denied that Ngirabatware was not in the country during the genocide.
Court says additional witness was going to testify that Ngirabatware was indeed in Rwanda, during the genocide.
The court however argued that the basis to reject the defence request was that all 35 defence witnesses never mentioned about Ngirabatware’s absence in the country during the genocide.
During the trial Ngirabatware had said that had travelled to Senegal and Swaziland during the genocide, specifically on the dates; between 23 April and 23 May 1994.
On the request of ICTR, prosecutor Massamba Ndiaye conducted an investigation to identify whether Ngirabatware was in Senegal.
After the investigation Massamba Ndiaye told the court that the office of president of Senegal denied ever receiving Ngirabatware during the said dates.
Ndiaye explained that he personally met twice with former Senegalese foreign affairs minister Moustapha Niasse who affirmed that he doesn’t know a person known by that name, let alone receiving him.
Among other evidences presented by the prosecution are documents from the director of Radio and Television indicating that they have never hosted Ngirabatware, on which Ngirabatware himself says he was hosted.
Ngirabatware, 52, is charged with nine counts which include; Genocide, Conspiracy to Commit Genocide; Complicity in Genocide and Direct and Public Incitement to Commit Genocide.
Others are; Crimes against Humanity for Murder, Extermination, Rape, Inhumane Acts and Serious Violations of the Geneva Conventions and of Additional Protocol II.
Ngirabatware was arrested in Germany in 2007 and transferred to the ICTR detention facility in Arusha, Tanzania in 2008. The former minister, whose trial kicked off in 2009, has pleaded not guilty to all the charges against him. Ends
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