Worldwide Pro-Kabuye protests rage on despite conditional release

STOCKHOLM - Despite the recent decision by a French court granting bail to State Protocol Chief, Rose Kabuye, demonstrations against her arrest continue both in the country and in the diaspora. The Rwandese Association in Norway Thursday staged their protests both at the German and French embassies and according to the Rwandan ambassador to Sweden whose jurisdiction also covers Norway, several Rwandans and some foreigners participated. “We got the report from the Rwandese Association in Norway that the protests were well attended and were all conducted peacefully,” said Ambassador Jacqueline Mukangira by telephone from Stockholm yesterday. She said that the protests will continue despite the decision by the judge at Palais de Justice in Paris. “What she got was a temporary release; we want all the charges against her and her colleagues dropped altogether because they are politically motivated,” she said. Kabuye’s arrest by German police two weeks ago was as a result of indictments issued by French Judge Jean Louis Bruguiere. He alleges that Rose and eight other officers had a role in shooting down the plane that was carrying former President Juvenal Habyarimana in 1994. “We went to both embassies and our chairman gave protest notes to officials to present to their respective countries,” said Emmanuel Ruzigana, one of the protestors. Ruzigana is among those considered as witnesses in the Bruiguiere Report onto which the indictments were based. He has since distanced himself from the report saying that it is ‘fabricated’. His retraction followed that of principle witness, Joshua Ruzibiza, who recently said that the report was actually authored by senior French government officials who were working in cohorts with operatives of the Democratic Forces for the Liberation of Rwanda (FDLR). Operating from the Democratic Republic of Congo, the FDLR, which is largely composed of elements responsible for the 1994 Tutsi Genocide, has been blacklisted as a terrorist organisation by the US among others. Similar demonstrations continued in the country yesterday while today, demonstrations are slated to take place in France, where Kabuye is at the moment. “We have also confirmed another demonstration in Helsinki, the capital of Finland which will take place next Wednesday on November 26,” said Mukangira, whose ambassadorial jurisdiction covers the Nordic countries of Sweden, Norway, Denmark and Finland. The arrest, which took place at Frankfurt International Airport, has caused a diplomatic row between Rwanda and Germany which resulted into sending home of the latter’s ambassador while the country called back its own for consultations. Rose Kabuye who played a major ole in stopping the 1994 Tutsi Genocide, was arrested as she arrived in the country to prepare for a presidential visit which automatically granted her a functional immunity, according to Rwandan officials. Ends

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Worldwide Pro-Kabuye protests rage on despite conditional release