Court views video of RNC operative in FDLR camps

Prosecutors in the terror trial of Lt. Joel Mutabazi and 15 others yesterday presented video evidence showing one of the co-accused, Jean Marie Vianney Ngabonziza, alias Patrick Rukundo, inside a Democratic Forces for the Liberation of Rwanda (FDLR) militia camp in DR Congo. Ngabonziza claims to be the chief mobiliser of Rwanda National Congress (RNC), a group led by dissidents linked to a spate of grenade attacks in the country since 2010. Prosecution in the Mi=litary High Court screened the video to prove that Ngabonziza worked for both FDLR and RNC. However, the suspect has persistently said he is a member of RNC and has no links with FDLR. “I don’t deny the videos, I took them myself and the voice you hear in it is mine, but I went to FDLR bases to deliver a message to Omega,” Ngabonziza told the court. Gen. Ntawugunka “Omega” Pacifique Israel is FDLR’s commander of military operations. “The message I was delivering was on a laptop, it was videos of RNC conferences and fliers of our manifesto,” Ngabonziza said. The video The video shows people that prosecutors say Ngabonziza was taking in an FDLR training camp in DR Congo. Ngabonziza identified a man named Mahoro whom he said was in charge of FLDR logistics and worked closely with him in Uganda. He said Mahoro was in charge of recruiting for FDLR and also facilitated the journey to FDLR’s training camp and main base to meet with Omega. In the video, Ngabonziza is seen inspecting FDLR’s weapons and filming them and seeking to know their capacity and range. The Judge sought to know whether Ngabonziza never worried for his security since he operated openly in Uganda and the suspect said that it had crossed his mind and once sought advice from RNC’s Patrick Karegeya. “Karegeya promised me that he was going to work out something and later on I received a call from Lt. Col. Abel Kandiho, who asked me to meet him at Shoprite in Nakawa, Kampala. “Kandiho gave me his number and told me that in case of any security threat, I should call him direct which implies that he had talked to Karegeya,” Ngabonziza told the Court. The trial continues today.