Nshogoza judgment is today

ARUSHA - The International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda (ICTR) will today render a judgment in the case of embattled defence lawyer Léonidas Nshogoza. Nshogoza who worked as an investigator for the Defence is accused of two counts of contempt of court. The judgment to be broadcast live via the ICTR satellite will be rendered by the Trial Chamber III composed of Judges Khalida Rachid Khan, Presiding, Lee Gacuiga Muthoga and Aydin Sefa Akay. During the course of the trial, prosecution requested court to render a serious and deserved sentence to Nshogoza arguing that this would deter others from committing similar offences. A person convicted of contempt of court at the ICTR faces a maximum sentence of five years or a fine of US $ 10,000 or both. Nshogoza is accused of trying to bribe prosecution witnesses to give false testimony that would favour former minister of Education and Culture, Jean de Dieu Kamuhanda. Kamuhanda has since been sentenced to life imprisonment and was late last year transferred to Mali from where he is serving his sentence. Early this year, a witness revealed that Nshogoza promised to give him ‘something’ in return for giving the court false evidence that would mitigate Kamuhanda’s Genocide case. The prosecution concluded its case on February 18 after presenting five witnesses whereas the defence fielded 11 witnesses, including the accused. Born in 1961 in Muhanga, Southern Province, Nshogoza surrendered to the Tanzania-based UN court in February 2008. He was immediately placed under ICTR custody. Ends

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Nshogoza judgment is today