30 days into the arrest of State Protocol Director Rose Kabuye, residents of Kicukiro District stormed the streets in a peaceful demonstration demanding that she be given a quick and fair trial. Kabuye was arrested in Germany early last month as a result of indictments issued by French judge Jean Louis Bruguiere who claim that she had a role in shooting down the plane that was carrying former president Juvenal Habyarimana. Displaying posters and banners bearing different messages denouncing the widely condemned arrest, the residents demanded that she be given a quick and fair trial by the French court. Subsequent to her arrest, she opted to be taken to France from where the indictments, which according to government officials are politically motivated, were issued. She has since been transferred to France from where she awaits trial. “We civil societies of Kicukiro district fully condemn the Germans and French for arresting Kabuye instead of praising her for stopping the Genocide,” read one poster carried along. “The international community should stop the conspiracy against Rwanda and Africa,” read another. Evariste Nshimiyumuremyi, one of the residents from Ubumwe village was furious that France and Germany are safe heavens for Genocidaires. Speaking in a hoarse voice as a result of shouting, Nshimiyumuremyi repeatedly accused France of arming and training Interhahamwe extremists who perpetrated the 1994 Genocide against the Tutsi. “We insist that she is freed,” he said adding that it is Europe’s tactic to mislead the world about the role of France in the Genocide that claimed over one million people. Chantal Mukagasana, who has pitched camp at the embassy since Kabuye was arrested, said the case was politically motivated and added it has already affected Rwanda’s cooperation with the European Union in regard to the fighting in Congo. “Whether they detain or even kill her, we shall always stand with her,” Mukagasana angrily said. Ends
