The Military High Court has sentenced retired Major Habib Mudathiru and two active servicemen of Rwanda Defence Force (RDF) to a 25-year jail sentence after they were convicted for conspiring against an established government, among other charges.
The verdict read on Thursday, March 25, marked an end to the terror trial that began in 2019.
The two RDF soldiers; Private Dieudonne Muhire and Private Jean-Bosco Ruhinda are part of a group of six suspects who were arrested within the country for plotting acts of terrorism against Rwanda.
The others are 25 militants who were extradited from DR Congo alongside Mudathiru. They were also convicted and sentenced to varying sentences.
Mudathiru, who is also the prime suspect in the group, faced the most charges including; treason, intentionally forming and joining a rebel group, conspiracy against an established government or the President of the Republic as well as maintaining relations with a foreign government with the intent to wage a war.
However, the former head of operations in P5, a military outfit linked to Rwandan dissident Kayumba Nyamwasa, pleaded not guilty to the charge of forming a criminal group saying that he was ‘just a member who was recruited’, and not the group’s founder.
Reading the verdict, the presiding judge, Lt. Col. Bernard Rugamba Hategekimana said that one of the charges - conspiracy against an established government or the President of the Republic - is legally punished by a life sentence and that court lessened the penalty based on Mudathiru’s collaboration with the judiciary.
"Not just him (Mudathiru), the sentences handed to all people were less than prescribed by law mainly because they were mostly cooperative throughout the trial; they responded well to judges and also worked well with other authorities like the investigative body,” said Hategekimana.
He also added that they were remorseful for the crimes they committed, and all this mitigated their circumstances.
On December 8, while giving his final submissions, Mudathiru pleaded for a lenient sentence after military prosecution requested life imprisonment, the highest sentence that is prescribed in the Rwandan penal law.
During the proceedings at the time, Mudathiru thanked the government of Rwanda for the fair treatment, saying his wounds were nursed and that he gets proper treatment for his other medical conditions including diabetes and high blood pressure.
Mudathiru spent much of the trial sitting owing to the wounds sustained during the operation by the Congolese soldiers against illegal armed groups
According to the judge, Mudathiru’s co-accused have all been sentenced to shorter jail terms based on the gravity of their charges.
Two of the militants were handed a 20-year jail term, citing their administrative responsibilities in P5.
Hategekimana also said that a total of 18 people involved in the case were given a 15-year sentence.
Others were handed 8-year sentences, while one civilian who is also a taxi moto operator was given a one-year sentence.
Two other RDF soldiers who were part of the trial were handed a year and six months as well as two years and 6 months respectively.
Court also cleared Corporal Viateur Kayiranga, another RDF soldier, of all the charges and he was set free.