At 9:45 am yesterday, musician Kizito Mihigo stepped out of Nyarugenge prison and immediately after politician Victoire Ingabire also came out beaming.
The two are among over 2000 former prison inmates who were given a presidential pardon Friday.
Clad in a red dress and green jacket, Ingabire flashed a smile as she received documents signaling her release. Mihigo was clad in a white collar T-Shirt and a yellow cap with symbols of his Kizito Mihigo Peace Foundation (KMP Foundation).
After stepping out of prison, the duo thanked the President for listening to their pleas and granting them a pardon. Ingabire further praised the progress that the country has achieved so far and pledged to play her part.
"I am grateful for the presidential mercy because the president {Paul Kagame} decided to pardon me so that I can go out and live a normal life,” she said
She also commended her husband and the entire family, her relatives and members of her party, United Democratic Forces of Rwanda (FDU-Inkingi)
Victoire Ingabire speaks to the media after getting her release letter as Kizito looks on outside Nyarugenge Prison in Kigali yesterday. Sam Ngendahimana.
"I am thankful to my husband, family and party members who were there for me, I am also thankful to the Rwanda Correctional Services because they are very professional and treated me with a lot of respect”.
She also commended the growth of political space in Rwanda adding that she believed that Rwandans have got to work together despite their different political understanding.
"It has been eight years since I was imprisoned, I followed the progress of our country and it is commendable, a lot has been achieved and there is a lot we can achieve together,” she said
According to Kizito Mihigo, the pardon was not surprising because he believed he would be pardoned when he appealed to the President for mercy after pleading guilty to his crimes.
"I am grateful to president for the decision to pardon me, a decision that shows his kindness, I appealed for clemency because I believed the president would grant it,” the singer said adding that he is now going to focus on his career.
President Paul Kagame on Friday exercised his prerogative of mercy to grant early release to over 2,000 inmates convicted for various crimes.
Ingabire was arrested in 2010, and later on evidence, including some furnished to Rwandan judicial authorities by the Dutch government, attesting to the fact that she was fundraising for FDLR, a terror group linked to the 1994 Genocide against the Tutsi
She was also convicted for inciting the masses to revolt against the government, and minimising the 1994 Genocide against the Tutsi.
Ingabire who had for many years lived in The Netherlands, had in 2013 had her conviction upheld on appeal by Supreme Court, which saw her lower court eight-year sentence increased to 15 years in prison. She had served 8 years before she got early release.
Kizito Mihigo was serving a 10-year sentence after he pleaded to crimes that included conspiracy to murder President Paul Kagame and other top leaders of the country.
In total, the beneficiaries to the clemency are 2,140 convicts from different parts of the country, majority of whom are from Huye District, where 484 got early release.
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