The International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda (ICTR), yesterday, adjourned the case of former Minister for Planning, Augustin Ngirabatware, to September 19, 2011.

Presiding Judge William Sekule, announced the changes yesterday.

He expressed optimism that by then, the trial phase of the case would be over, insisting that if the parties would have any motions, they should be filed in a timely manner for the Chamber to act upon accordingly.

Three witnesses testified for Ngirabatware during the session which started on August 15, including the former Minister for Foreign Affairs, Jerome Bicamumpaka, who is also facing Genocide charges and waiting for judgment in a joint case involving four other former ministers.

Sixteen witnesses have already testified for Ngirabatware since the beginning of the defence case in November last year. Fifty-eight witnesses are expected to testify.

The indictment, among others, alleges that around early April 1994, the accused engaged in a joint criminal enterprise with other authorities in Nyamyumba Commune, Gisenyi Prefecture, currently in the Western Province, to exterminate Tutsi civilians as part of widespread and systematic attack against the Tutsi.

Ngirabatware is the son-in-law of fugitive Felicien Kabuga, the alleged sponsor of the Genocide.

The accused fled Rwanda in July 1994 and subsequently worked in various research institutes in Gabon and France. He was arrested in Germany in 2007 and has been in ICTR custody since October 8, 2008.

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