Ingabire ruling postponed

The Supreme Court on Friday postponed a ruling in a suit filed by the leader of a yet to be registered party, Victoire Ingabire, challenging one of the laws under which she is being prosecuted.

Saturday, October 06, 2012
Victoire Ingabire.

The Supreme Court on Friday postponed a ruling in a suit filed by the leader of a yet to be registered party, Victoire Ingabire, challenging one of the laws under which she is being prosecuted.Ingabire, who is accused of bankrolling terrorism and denying the 1994 genocide against the Tutsi, filed a suit in March this year contesting the legality of Rwanda’s genocide ideology laws."Since the panel of judges is incomplete, the (Supreme) court decision will be announced on October 18,” said deputy Chief Justice, Sylvie Zainabu Kaitesi, the lead judge in a panel of nine judges.Ingabire, the leader of the Unified Democratic Forces (FDU), is charged with "financial support to a terrorist group, conspiring to create state insecurity and divisionism.”The twice-postponed verdict in Ingabire’s trial for aiding an armed group is set for October 19, one day after the Supreme Court ruling. Ingabire, denied the charges.Prosecutors in April called for the court to hand her a life sentence.Ingabire, has been in custody since October 2010, and has boycotted proceedings since April.Rwandan prosecutors claim to have evidence of Ingabire’s "terrorist” activities, including proof of financial transfers to the Democratic Front for the Liberation of Rwanda, a terrorist group based in neighbouring Democratic Republic of Congo.