Rwanda: Opposition leader charged with terrorism offence

26 Oct 10 | Index Index, minipost

Opposition leader Victoire Ingabire has been accused of working with a terrorist group. Following her arrest last month, prosecutors now say they have evidence that she colluded with a former officer of a Hutu militia in a manner that threatened national security. If she is found guilty on all charges, including spreading “genocide ideology”, she could receive a life sentence. Upon her return to Rwanda in February, she called for Hutus victims of the genocide to be remembered in the same way as Tutsis. Appealing to ethnic identity in such a manner is illegal.

Rwanda: Editor murdered outside his house

29 Jun 10 | Index Index, minipost

Jean Leonard Rugambage, the acting editor of independent newspaper Umuvugizi, was shot dead outside his home in Kigali on 24 June. Local authorities recently suspended the paper but it continued to publish online. Exiled chief editor Jean Bosco Gasasira, blames the government for the killing because of an article Umuvugizi published last weekend accusing the Rwandan security forces of murdering the former army General Faustin Kayumba Nyamwasa. Today (29 June) Rwandan police announced that they had arrested two men suspected of involvement in the killing.

Rwandan opposition leader released from jail

26 Apr 10 | Index Index, minipost, Uncategorized

Victoire Ingabire, who plans to stand in August’s presidential elections, was conditionally released from jail on Thursday. She faces charges of genocide ideology, divisionism and collaborating with a rebel group. Ingabire must now report to authorities twice a month and is not allowed to leave the capital city of Kigali. The travel conditions will impede her election campaign, Ingabire has previously been interrogated by investigators on suspicion of invoking ethnic divisions, though she claimed last month that she was being harassed for challenging the government.