Expedite high-profile Genocide trials

Editor,Please allow me to comment on the article, “Govt seeks review of legal fees on transferred cases”, published in The New Times issue of October 24.

Thursday, October 24, 2013

Editor,Please allow me to comment on the article, "Govt seeks review of legal fees on transferred cases”, published in The New Times issue of October 24.It’s true that Rwanda is a country committed to the rule of law, and that’s why those suspects are allowed to do almost anything, including picking and changing their lawyers and translators as they wish, getting frequent ‘sick’ leaves (even though sometimes I doubt their claim of illness) and even refusing to share medical papers following purported illness.I find some of these transferred suspects still arrogant and hostile.It saddens me how we are wasting taxpayers’ money to the same people who planned and executed a genocide that claimed a million of our compatriots!The government needs to urgently strike a deal with the bar association for a flat fee instead of paying the lawyers in question hourly rates.It’s not my job to judge these suspects but I somewhat wonder why the trials are lasting longer. For instance, Leon Mugesera is on record saying that Tutsis must be killed and "sent back” to Ethiopia through the Akagera and Nile waters. That infamous speech he gave two decades ago is available.To the lawyers, please do your job professionally but don’t delay court proceedings especially when the evidence against your clients is overwhelming. Yes, the suspects need equitable justice but so do the victims of their actions.Gatabazi, Kigali