WESTERN PROVINCE

RUSIZI — A man who had eluded police arrest after allegedly mobilising residents to boycott the 14th Liberation Day celebrations in July has been arrested.

Theodore Nsabimana, 59, a resident of Gatsiro cell in Gihundwe, believed to be harboring Genocide ideology, has been on the run since July 4 2008 and was arrested recently at his residence, according to the police.

Kamembe Police Post alleges that Nsabimana, on July 3, 2008 went around Gatsiro Cell discouraging his neighbors to contribute towards the July 4 Liberation Day ceremonies.

However, Nsabimana who reportedly served as a soldier during both the former regimes of Gregory Kayibanda and Juvenile Habyarimana before becoming a corporal in the Ex-FAR, says he has no regrets for his actions.

"Yes it’s true on July 3 I called upon my fellow residents not to pay money which was meant for organising the 14th Liberation Day celebration ceremonies in our area because I know it as a day for only RPF party members. I also told them that we should also begin to celebrate July 1 …like the way it used to be during Habyarimana’s regime,” he said. A police official gave the same account the accused confessed.

The police also said that Nsabimana actually told residents that July 4 was not meant for all Rwandans but for a particular ethnic group of people and particularly it was meant for Rwanda Patriotic Front (RPF).

He allegedly advised his neighbors to begin marking July 1 as it used to be celebrated during the former President Habyarimana’s regime.

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