Nyarugenge Intermediate Court has denied bail appeal in the case of Judge Eric Twambajimana, who previously served in the same court. He had been remanded on charges related to forged documents. Delivering the appeal ruling on August 22, the presiding judge said that the reasons provided by the suspect were insufficient to grant him bail arguing that he failed to present any compelling circumstances as required by the law for him to secure bail. Consequently, the court ruled to uphold the lower court’s verdict, which had remanded the suspect. On March 28, the Nyarugenge primary court handed Twambajimana a 30-day remand arguing that there was reasonable ground to suspect that he committed the allegedly crimes and would tamper with evidence if granted bail. He later filed an appeal challenging the lower court decision that denied him bail. ALSO READ: Kigali judge arrested over forgery During the bail appeal hearing held on August 17, Twambajimana highlighted that his health condition, familial responsibilities requiring his care, unpaid bank loans, and his enrollment in law school under a government loan as reasons for the court to consider and grant him bail. He expressed his concern about not wanting government money to go to waste. As a result, he requested the granting of bail. However, the prosecution has urged the court to uphold the lower court's ruling, arguing that the grounds presented by the defendant in his appeal are not special to justify granting him bail. ALSO READ: Who is Rumanzi, the football coach seeking asylum in Europe? Twambajimana was arrested after issuing fake Rwanda Investigation Bureau (RIB) summons papers to a person who was living abroadao as the latter can use them to seek asylum in a European country arguing he was wanted by RIB for political reasons. However, those forged documents were seized at Kigali International Airport. The person in question was David Rumanzi, a former coach of Amavubi Under-13 years’ teams at Paris Saint Germain (PSG) Academy Rwanda located in Huye District, Southern Province. Rumanzi left Rwanda y in May 2022 when he, among other coaches, accompanied the boys' U-13 PSG Academy Rwanda team which was taking part in the annual competition of the PSG Academy World Cup for the first time. On May 25 last year, when the team flew back home after the tournament, the coach stayed in France and started to seek refuge.
