UK court drops Gen Karake extradition case

A British court has dismissed the extradition case of the head of the National Intelligence and Security Services, Lt Gen Karenzi Karake, meaning he could return home after nearly two months in the United Kingdom where he has stayed since his highly controversial arrest in June. The decision by the court was based on the submission by a prosecutor representing Spain in the case saying he had no basis for extradition of the Gen Karake, who was arrested on an indictment by Spanish judge Judge Fernando Andreu Merelles. The arrest of Karake at Heathrow Airport on June 20 after an official visit in the UK sparked protests in the country and abroad, with Rwandans and different people conversant with the case condemning it, on grounds that the indictments on which the arrest was based were politically motivated. “Delighted (that) Gen KK (Karenzi Karake) is coming home; this was an unnecessary and abusive process,” Foreign Affairs Minister Louise Mushikiwabo announced on her Twitter timeline. The development, according to observers, means the case in the United Kingdom is over, while the final decision will be made by the Spanish Supreme Court in September. The admission by prosecutor that there is no evidence for extradition is strong indication that the case in general has no basis. Merelles, who also indicted 39 other former commanders of the then Rwanda Patriotic Army over the death of Spanish missionaries in 1994, was implicated by a UN Group of Experts to having strong ties with the DR Congo-based Democratic Forces for the Liberation of Rwanda (FDLR) militia. The experts stated in their report that Merelles, through a network of faith-based NGOs that have close links with the genocidal militia, received money specifically to prepare indictments against the former officers of RPA. Shortly after his arrest, a UK court released Karake on bail. The bail was set at 1 million pounds and he was not allowed to leave the country.

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UK court drops Gen Karake extradition case