SA man acquitted of Flag charges

• Praises judicial system NORTHERN PROVINCE Musanze - A South African national, Marcel Clasen who had been arrested for wearing a t-shirt bearing the old Rwandan Flag has been aquitted of the charges that had been labelled against him. While passing the verdict, the President of the lower Court, Felix Uwayezu, said that Clasen had been found innocent based on the fact that there was no evidence showing that the T-shirt was neither made by his company nor was it made on his orders with the intention of replacing the new national flag. On the accusations that Clasen knew the current Rwandan flag since he reportedly has two T-shirts; one with the new flag and the other with the old one, the Judge said that there was no evidence to prove that he knew about the old flag since it could not be proved that he had been in Rwanda before the new flag had been instituted. Marcel Clasen, the Director of Elegant Africa Ltd, a tour company, had been arrested on charges of disrespecting the national emblem by replacing the new Rwandan national flag with the old one, a crime he allegedly committed in July this year. According to the law, whoever disrespects the national emblem by replacing, tearing, or removing the logo publically and intentionally may face between two months and five years jail sentence. On hearing about his aquital, Clasen who communicated through an interpretor, appreciated the manner in which the case was handled and said that the Justice system had exhibited fairness. He regretted any harm the incident had caused to Rwandans and pledged to continue with his $1.5 million project of constructing a camping site in Cyuve sector along the Musanze-Cyanika road. The case involving Clasen had been raised by a local journalist who had reportedly asked him why he was wearing a t-shirt bearing the old national flag only to get a rude response from the latter. Court handed back the passport to the visibly happy Clasen. Ends

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SA man acquitted of Flag charges