PM urges prosecutors to expedite terror cases

Prime Minister Pierre Damien Habumuremyi has urged prosecution to handle cases related to crimes against the State in earnest. The premier, who was swearing in four prosecutors at the Office of the Prime Minister in Kigali yesterday, said there was need to beef up the way such cases are handled in order to “discourage those who want to betray our nation.” Between January and June, 44 people were arrested in the country in connection with subversive activities, and eight guns and 21 grenades were recovered, Police said on Tuesday. “You cannot cut a branch of a tree you are sitting on; whenever you are pursuing such cases, never be passive,” Habumuremyi said. New prosecutors Of the four prosecutors, three will be handling cases before primary courts and one will be in intermediate courts. The three prosecutors of primary courts are Michel Nshimiyimana, Mukarugambwa Mukunzi, and Claudette Umutesi. Bonaventure Habimana, who will be handling cases before intermediate courts, said in the face of terrorism they would do their best to confront the challenge in accordance with the law. Jean Bosco Mutangana, a national prosecutor and head of international crimes unit, said the public prosecution has the capacity to win convictions. “We have already strengthened the way we handle terror charges, I find these new prosecutors as a big asset,” Mutangana said. Habumuremyi urged prosecutors to be able to detect new crimes that are being born. “As the people evolve and the country grows, crooks also devise new tactics, so you should as well be devising new ways to beat them,” the premier said. He thanked the prosecution for having handled a backlog of more than 35, 000 cases since 2001in different courts. Rwanda currently has more than 100 prosecutors at all levels of the judicial system, including in primary courts, intermediate courts, high courts and Supreme Court as well as military and commercial courts.

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PM urges prosecutors to expedite terror cases