The Gasabo Intermediate Court has handed a 10-year jail sentence to Antoine Ruvebana, the former permanent secretary of what used to be the Ministry of Disaster Management and Refugee Affairs (MIDIMAR) over defilement.

Delivering the verdict, on Tuesday, March 7, the judge said that the court found Ruvebana guilty of defiling a victim with the protected code-name VAF.

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The judge pointed out that based on various testimonies including the victim's and others code named BCF and BEF, as well as the medical report (physiologist) there was reasonable grounds to convict him.

In the trial conducted in camera, Ruvebana pleaded not guilty, saying that everything was set up by his wife who wanted to divorce him.

According to the prosecution, Ruvebana defiled the victim from 2005 when she was six years old up to 2013 when she was 14 years old as he worked in Switzerland where he was a diplomat.

Previously, the prosecution had requested the court to convict and sentence him to 25 years in jail.

However, the judge noted that he was given a shorter sentence because this was the first time he was being prosecuted.

Ruvebana worked as the Permanent Secretary of MIDIMAR from 2012 to 2017 before the ministry was changed to the Ministry of Emergency Management.

He has been detained since December 11, 2021.