The Court of Appeal has adjourned the case of Léon Mugesera after the latter called for the disqualification of one of the three judges, Charles Kaliwabo. He questioned Kaliwabo’s impartiality because he had been the president of the High Court that earlier sentenced Mugesera to life in prison for Genocide-related crimes. Kaliwabo was appointed a judge to the Court of Appeal in July 2018. Mugesera had been found guilty on multiple counts, including incitement to commit genocide, inciting ethnic hatred, and persecution as a crime against humanity. He served as the deputy chairman and special advisor to the former ruling party – MRND –, which orchestrated the Genocide against the Tutsi. Mugesera was deported from Canada in 2012 after a long battle fighting his extradition to Rwanda. In 1992, in a speech aimed at stirring up killings, he referred to the Tutsi as cockroaches that should be killed and sent back to Ethiopia via Nyabarongo, a tributary of the River Nile. No date for resumption of the case was set as the court withdrew to study the accused’s objections. editor@newtimesrwanda.com
