MRND leaders’ Genocide trial adjourned

The International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda (ICTR) on Thursday postponed to February 2, 2009, the hearing of the case involving three former top officials of the former ruling party Mouvement Républicain National Pour La Démocratie Et Le Développement (MRND). The accused who are facing Genocide charges include; former Party President Mathieu Ngirumpatse, Vice President Edouard Karemera and Secretary General Joseph Nzirorera. The adjournment follows two sessions this year due to Ngirumpatse whose health has persistently deteriorated. The trial presided over by Judge Dennis Byron set aside motions of severance filed by the other parties and maintained that this should not be the first option to sort out court proceedings that had been delayed all along. Byron said that the chamber had received a report from medical experts that Ngirumpatse was likely not to be present at the continuation of trial in February, and that everything would be done to enable the accused follow his trial closely. The judge directed the Registry to ensure that upon commencement of the hearing, the accused gets daily transcripts and video tapes to enable him follow court proceedings from his hospital bed. “All that is needed will be provided to enable him participate from his hospital bed from Monday to Thursday,” Judge Byron said and added that; “if that fails then severance motions will be considered.” However, upon request by the defence teams of the three accused, the court agreed to set January 12, 2009 as a date for a status conference to asses the health condition of Ngirumpatse, a few weeks before the trial commences. All three accused have pleaded not guilty to Genocide and crimes against humanity. MRND was Rwanda’s ruling party from 1975 to 1994 under former President Juvénal Habyarimana and is largely blamed for having played an instrumental role in the planning of the 1994 Tutsi Genocide that claimed over a million innocent lives. Ends