The trial of president Habyarimana's brother in law begins at
ICTR
By Hirondelle News Agency
The genocide trial against Protais Zigiranyirazo, the brother
in law of the former Rwandan President, the late Juvenal Habyarimana, commenced
on Monday before the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda (ICTR). In his
opening statement, the Tribunal's Prosecutor, Hassan Bubacar Jallow (Gambia),
described the accused, popularly known as "Mr. Z", as having had a "great
influence" on presidential guards, the Interahamwe militia and government
officials, which enabled him to commit crimes alongside other conspirators. He
said Zigiranyirazo, 67, who is accused of five counts of genocide and crimes
against humanity, is also a member of a powerful "Akazu" an inner circle of the
president's family, which controlled politics and economic opportunities in the
country. According to Jallow, the accused facilitated the training and arming of
Interahamwe militias, and joined hands with the presidential guard to list names
of Tutsis and moderate Hutus to be killed after the death of President
Habyarimana on April 6, 1994. He also allegedly ordered his son Jean Marie
Makiza to kill three gendarmes identified as Tutsis at roadblocks near his house
in Giciye commune in May 1994. "He was indispensable link to this conspiracy of
criminal enterprise," said Jallow. He said a total of 28 prosecution witnesses
would come to testify in this trial, some of whom would narrate how the accused
thanked the killers for the "good work" and rewarded them with food. The accused
lawyer, John Philpot from Canada, denied that his client conspired with others
including members of his family to commit the said crimes, saying that they
themselves were fleeing, hiding and suffering like other Rwandans during the
1994 genocide. "His bother and brother in law were killed. They fled like rats,"
Philpot told the Chamber. He said opposition parties invented things to
discredit President Habyarimana's regime " including the word Akazu" which he
said was "nothing more than a fiction." The defence is expected to bring around
30 witnesses. . Zigiranyirazo was arrested in Belgium in 2001.
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