Court rejects Nyirubutama’s bail appeal

PROBE - The embattled Ministry of Finance Director, Jean Jacques Nyirubutama, has lost his bail appeal. The High Court rejected Nyirubutama’s bail appeal on Monday. Nyirubutama, who is accused of defilement and rape, had on August 20 appealed against the court order by the Nyarugenge Court of Lower Instance that sent him on a 30-day provisional detention as investigations into his case continue. He was on August 28 remanded at Kigali Central Prison for allegedly defiling his 14-year-old housemaid. The High Court, chaired by vice president Marie Rose Mukandamage, threw out Nyirubutama’s appeal because it wasn’t convinced that the accused may escape justice when released and further believed that his sickness claims can be accorded special attention by the Kigali Central Prison authorities. “It’s against that background that we can’t make any alteration on the decision taken by the Nyarugenge Court of Lower Instance,” the court ruled. During the appeal heard in camera, Nyirubutama, through his lawyers John Haguma and Athanase Rutabingwa had pleaded that he suffers from diabetes and needed special food and attention outside jail. He also argued that the evidence provided to court was only from the police and other house workers and his pleas had not been put into consideration. He further argued that he has a family and is a civil servant so cannot escape. Prosecution maintains that there are serious reasons to believe Nyirabutama committed the crime. The Nyarugenge Court of Lower Instance on August 28 ruled that there were strong reasons to believe that Nyirubutama committed the alleged crime, basing on information from witnesses and medical examinations.Ends

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Court rejects Nyirubutama’s bail appeal