RSF appeals for release of Belgian priest detained in Rwanda
By Hirondelle News Agency
The secretary general of Reporters Without Borders, Robert Menard, (RSF) last
Friday published in a French newspaper, Liberation, an appeal for the release of
Belgian priest Guy Theunis at the same time denouncing the "regime of terror"
currently in Rwanda.
Menard called the arrest on September 6 of Theunis at Kigali airport as "parody
of justice, absurd accusations, humiliation and causing annoyance", saying that
in fact Fr. Theunis was "a friend of Rwanda"
According to RSF, even though the priest is accused of complicity in the 1994
genocide, the arrest was motivated by the fact that Fr. Theunis began
documenting ethnic cleansing of Hutus by the RPF in northern Rwanda from 1992.
The death of a million Tutsis should not shield the crimes RPF committed in its
quest for power", said this activist for freedom of expression.
After being arraigned before the semi-traditional Gacaca tribunals, Fr.
Theunis's case was transferred by Rwandan authorities to the conventional courts
reserved for organisers of the genocide.
In a statement made to Hirondelle News Agency, Rwanda's foreign minister Charles
Muligande stated that the priest, who is detained in a Kigali prison, might be
transferred to Belgium for trial. He added that they were still waiting for an
official request.
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