Holding placards and chanting slogans protesting the arrest of Gen Karenzi Karake, thousands of Rwandans, yesterday, gathered in various parts of Southern Province to demand his immediate and unconditional release.

Gen Karake, Rwanda’s intelligence chief, was barred from leaving London at the weekend at Heathrow Airport, based on a Spanish indictment issued by judge Andreu Merelles.

Speaking to The New Times, the chairperson of Joint Action Forum (JAF) Nyanza District, Martin Nshimyumukiza, said the arrest of Gen Karake was illegal and intended to derail Rwanda’s progress.

"Some people are frustrated with Rwanda’s development and make up all sorts of reasons to derail it’s progress.

They want to divert Rwandans from the right path of inclusive welfare and development,” he said.

In Eastern Province, business and traffic came to a standstill as thousands of residents staged protests against the arrest.

The protests took place in the various towns, including Kayonza, Nyagatare and Rwamagana.

Nshimyumukiza said by joining hands to protest against the arrest of a man who helped liberate the country, Rwandans have shown that they are united and know what is good for their country and want to preserve it.

The representative of women in the Southern Province, Anita Kayitesi Mafurebo, said: "As women, we are protesting against the arrogance of the British government, which dared to arrest a hero who, together with others, stopped the Genocide when international community was acting as bystanders and never offered help.

The British government must release our national, a hero and a patriot. They should instead imprison and punish the perpetrators of the Genocide.”

"It is a pity that a person who helped liberate the country from the genocidal regime of Juvenal Habyarimana is being labelled a killer yet the perpetrators of the Genocide are moving freely around the world,” Isihaka Gakwaya, 60, from Busasamana Sector in Nyanza District, said.

‘Illegal arrest’

The representative of the civil society in Huye District, Phabien Mutagoma, said the arrest of Karake is illegal.

"The 2008 indictment by the Spanish judge is not valid. The European Union should know well that Judge Merelles works with FDLR and it is known that they (genocidaires) are moving freely in those countries but no one is getting arrested. They should leave us alone as Rwandans. Our country is well governed and is enjoying tremendous development,” he said.

John Musoni, one of the protestors in Kayonza District, said: "We stand in solidarity with our leader and we want him to be released. We demand that the injustice against him stops. People in the Eastern Province have taken to the streets. Just as other Africans, Gen Karake is a victim of Western arrogance.”

Jeanine Uwitonze, a protestor in Rwamagana District, said it was disappointing that in this day and age, the West still plays dumb about who to bring to book in connection with the 1994 Genocide against the Tutsi in Rwanda.

The peaceful protests were closely monitored by the Rwanda National Police.

editorial@newtimes.co.rw