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Issue 00492 |
October 27 - November 2, 2007 |
issn 0856 - 9135 |
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UN Tribunal |
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Investigator imprisoned in Rwanda By Hirondelle News Agency Representatives of the defence of Emmanuel Rukundo, a priest on trial before the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda (ICTR), filed a second motion to try to have recognized the immunity of one of their investigators, Léonidas Nshogoza, imprisoned in Rwanda since 16 June. The Rwandan lawyer is accused by his country of a corruption attempt and of having minimized the crime of genocide, according to a motion signed by Aicha Conde and Allision Turner, Rukundo’s two lawyers. Nshogoza had been indicted by the Rwandan authorities after one of the witnesses of Father Rukundo’s defence, known as BLP in order to protect his identity, was accused of false testimony. This case led to an investigation in Rwanda, the conclusions led to the dropping of the charges. Nshogoza’s representatives remind in their motion that their investigator was on mission for the United Nations when he was arrested and that he must thus benefit from immunity in accordance with article 29 of the statute of the ICTR. They also ask the tribunal to remind Rwanda of its primacy in regards to law. The proceedings in the Rukundo’s trial are about to finish and the lawyers made the point that for lack of an investigator their client did not receive a fair trial. After the Nshogoza’s arrest, a representative of the registry, the department of the tribunal responsible for lawyers, had gone to Kigali to inquire. No information could be obtained on the possible steps taken for his release.
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