Justice minister: Media reports on Spanish warrants misleading

The Minister for Justice and Attorney-General, Johnston Busingye, has clarified misleading reports that claim the arrest warrants against Rwandan officials that were recently dismissed by the Spanish Supreme court are still valid. The BBC and AFP have published stories quoting an anonymous source who claimed that the warrants were still valid. In a statement released last evening, Minister Busingye described the claims from ‘anonymous sources within the Spanish Judiciary as false, misleading and unknown to law.’ He challenged the source to “come out of anonymity so we can have a legal conversation on the matter”. One of the Rwandan officials who was affected by the warrants issued based on a controversial 2008 Spanish indictment is Lt General Karenzi Karake, the head of the National Intelligence and Security Services. On June 20, he was barred from leaving the UK where he was on an official mission. But the Westminster Magistrates Court in London, UK, later dropped charges against him following the Prosecutor’s admission of a lack of evidence. “General Karake’s case in the UK crumbled on account of the Spanish Judicial Authority’s own admission that it could not discharge the burden of proof required for a decision to extradite,” Busingye said. The minister explained that the Spanish Supreme Court on September 25 clearly ruled that it did not satisfy the requirements for trial under the Spanish Universal Jurisdiction Law. After this Supreme Court decision the question of whether the UK notified Spain of the decision in KK’s extradition case, even if it were true, becomes moot, said Busingye, dismissing the claims reported by the media. “It’s now the moment to engage constructively. I now expect the arrest warrants to be cancelled, if not cancelled already, transmission of the investigation file to complement the one in Kigali and warm and professional collaboration between the respective Spanish and Rwandan institutions on all subsequent steps,” Busingye said of the way forward.

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Justice minister: Media reports on Spanish warrants misleading