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ADAD demands to be heard in 'Military 1' TrialBy Hirondelle News Agency The Association of Defence Lawyers working at the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda (ICTR), ADAD, has requested to appear as Amicus Curiae (friend of the court) in the trial of four senior officers of the former Rwandan army (Ex-FAR) that has been shaken by the dismissal of a defence lawyer. In a motion filed November 30, the Association argues that the decision to sack the lawyer should be suspended until the end of the trial. The Registrar of the ICTR struck Jean Yaovi Degli from Togo off the defence lawyers register, accusing him of fraud. He had been lead counsel for Brigadier Gratien Kabiligi, one of the four accused in the AMilitary 1" trial. The decision to dismiss Degli could not have come at a worse time, exactly when the prosecution had finished presenting its case. Kabiligi has argued to the judges that if the decision to dismiss his lawyer stands, he will suffer Airreparable prejudice@. AMy lead counsel is well versed with my case and he, more than anyone else knows our defence strategy. We set it up together and we have been following it to the letter@, argues Kabiligi. His three co-accused also consider they will be victims of Acollateral effect@. They argue that Degli, at one time or another, would have been examining common witnesses when the defence begins presenting its case in January. ADAD points out that it is in support of Kabiligi and his co-accused arguments that they want to appear as Amicus Curiae. The Association demands that the court rules on the legality of dismissing the lawyer and the timing of the dismissal. ADAD suggests that the Registrar violated the rights of the accused to a fair trial. It also argues that the decision to dismiss the lawyer will greatly delay the trial and goes against all the measures taken to fulfil the tribunal=s exit strategy in time. ADAD continues that the Registrar discriminated in passing administrative decisions against defence lawyers and not against those employed by the Office of the Prosecutor (OTP). They gave an example of an ICTR trial attorney who was suspended for fraud by the New York Bar Association. The information did not affect her employment by the OTP. ADAD concludes that the judges should realise that the dismissal of Degli was Auntimely and disruptive to the trial@. They propose that his dossier be reopened, Abefore a disciplinary committee that would guarantee a fair hearing@. In the meantime, they say, the decision to sack Degli should be put on hold until the completion of the trial. In this so-called AMilitary 1" trial, Brigadier Kabiligi is jointly accused, among others, with Colonel Theoneste Bagosora, former Director de cabinet in the Rwandan ministry of defence.
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