Recently, there emerged claims that Vincent Lurquin, a Belgian lawyer affiliated to the Brussels Bar Association was denied the right to give legal assistance to Paul Rusesabagina in Rwanda. Rusesabagina is one of the 18 suspects linked to MRCD-FLN and faces several charges linked to terrorism committed mainly in south western Rwanda. However, according to Rwanda Bar Association, the denial was on the basis that there is no reciprocal arrangement with their Brussels counterpart, which is a requirement. Normally, where there is reciprocity between bar associations of two different countries, those countries establish similar specific requirements that a lawyer from country ‘A’ has to comply with to be able to practice in country ‘B’, and vice versa. In Rwanda’s case, once there is reciprocal agreement with a given country, lawyers from that country are asked to fulfil a set of requirements before they can be allowed to plead in Rwandan courts. The requirements include a letter of recognition from the lawyer’s parent bar association, a certificate of criminal record and taking an oath before Rwanda’s High Court among others. In the case of Lurquin, Julien-Gustave Kavaruganda, the president of Rwanda Bar Association, said that there is no reciprocity between the Rwandan bar and their Belgian counterparts, a reason to why the former could not be assisted to plead in Rwanda. “When we contacted the Brussels Bar Association, they told us that a Rwandan lawyer cannot give legal assistance to a client while in Belgium unless that lawyer has a Belgian nationality or that of a European Union member country,” he told The New Times on Wednesday, November 18. “Currently, Rwanda has reciprocal agreement with countries in East African Community and Cameroon, and therefore, so far, only lawyers from these countries can provide legal services in Rwanda,” he added. According to Kavaruganda, the reciprocal agreement can either be signed between ministries of justice of two given countries, or their respective bar associations. Meanwhile, asked about previous instances where foreign lawyers have been able to plead before Rwanda courts, Kavaruganda said that this was allowed in the previous law establishing the bar association, but the current law enacted in 2013 stipulates that only foreign lawyers from jurisdictions with a reciprocal arrangement can register and practice in Rwanda. Rusesabagina’s hearing due Meanwhile, Rusesabagina is expected back in court on Friday, November 20, at the Nyarugenge Intermediate Court where he is expected to challenge a decision by a lower court to extend his detention by 30 days. For the first time, he is expected to be represented by Gatera Gashabana, a lawyer he has hired to replace the two lawyers who have been representing him pro bono since he was arrested in late August. Rusesabagina was the founding president of MRCD, a coalition of diverse pseudo political outfits. It was under his leadership that the group formed the FLN militia,comprising mainly FDLR elements. The militia is responsible for the brutal 2018 incursions in South West Rwanda which left a trail of deaths and destruction on civilian population. At least nine people were killed during these incursions. Rusesabagina was the subject of at least two International Arrest Warrants; in 2010 for membership of or financing the FDLR and in 2018 for the FLN terror attacks.
