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Witness gives contradictory testimony, irritates judgesBy Hirondelle News Agency A witness called to give evidence for the defence of the former councillor of Gishyita (Kibuye western Rwanda), Monday, irritated judges at the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda (ICTR) when he skirted questions and contradicted himself. The witness code-named "TQ28" is the ninth defence witness appearing for Mika Muhimana who is accused of genocide and crimes against humanity. TQ28 had appeared as a defence witness in 2002 in the trial of Pastor Elizaphan Ntakirutimana and his son Dr. Gerald Ntakirutimana where he gave a different account of events in Kibuye during the 1994 genocide. When Wallace Kapaya, who was appearing for the prosecution, called the witness’s attention to the discrepancies in both testimonies, TQ28 became confrontational and asked the prosecution not to ask him about his previous testimony. "I am not appearing in Ntakirutimana’s trial so leave that case alone", retorted the vexed witness, who told the court that he had been a second year physics student at the University of Rwanda in 1994. At one time one of the three judges sitting on the trial, Judge Emile Short of Ghana, tartly called the witness to order. "You are here to answer questions, not to be arrogant", Judge Short reminded. TQ28 denied allegations that Mika had raped some Tutsi women. "I knew the alleged rape victims. Had they been raped I would have heard about it", he said. The tenth witness given the code name "TQ8" did not shed much light on Mika Muhimana’s actions during the genocide as he told the Tribunal that he had not seen the accused during the period in question. TQ8 was a former gendarme (Para-military police) based in Kigali and claimed that he had only been to Gishyita in June 1994 but never ran into Mika Muhimana. The trial continues. The trial is taking place in Trial Chamber Three of the
ICTR composed of Judge Khalida Rashid Khan of Pakistan (presiding), Lee Gaciuga
Muthoga of Kenya and Judge Short.
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