The Gacaca court of Remera sector has sentenced former Member of Parliament Etienne Magari to life imprisonment for his allegedly direct role in the 1994 Tutsi Genocide. Magari was first implicated in the Genocide in May 2005. He subsequently resigned his seat on the general request of the Chamber of Deputies. Since then, he has been appearing before the Remera Gacaca court to answer charges leveled against him. According to Domitilla Mukantaganzwa, the National Executive Secretary of Gacaca Jurisdiction, Magari was sentenced to life imprisonment last weekend, but he immediately appealed the sentence. Magari, who formerly worked with the investigations department in the President’s office before the 1994 Tutsi Genocide, is charged with masterminding the Genocide and taking a direct role in financing and equipping Interahamwe militias (the Hutu militia that led Rwanda’s 1994 Genocide). The court charged Magari killing Narcisse Rutagarama, a one Kiringiti, their wives and children. He was also charged with mounting roadblocks around Remera suburb and supplying machetes to Interahamwe militias. Before sentencing him, the presiding judge of the court told Magari that his case is in Category I and would lead to a life sentence. The judge advised him that if he happens to plead guilty, his sentence would be reduced to between 20 to 24 years in jail, but Magari refused to buy the idea hence the life sentence on conviction. Magari was formerly a member of the controversial political party Mouvement Démocratique Républicain (MDR) on which he had got a ticket to the transitional parliament. MDR was later dissolved and Magari joined the Liberal Party (LP) which gave him a ticket to the Chamber of Deputies.The court is scheduled to hear his appeal on Sunday, September 7. Ends
