Nshogoza loses appeal

The International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda (ICTR), Appeals Court on Monday upheld a contempt of court conviction and ten-month jail term against Leonidas Nshogoza, a former ICTR defence investigator. Nshogoza, who was convicted and sentenced last year, had requested that the Appeals Chamber reverse his conviction and enter a complete acquittal, or in the alternative, review and reduce his sentence. But the chamber in its ruling, threw out his arguments that the trial court had erred in its judgment. “The Appeals Chamber, however, found that the accused failed to demonstrate any error in the Trial Chamber’s assessment of the aggravating factors surrounding his offence,” an ICTR statement quotes judges as saying. The former ICTR investigator during the trial of Jean de Dieu Kamuhanda, was convicted by the trial chamber on one count; for committing contempt of the Tribunal by repeatedly meeting with and disclosing the protected information of witnesses in knowing violation of, or with reckless indifference to the protective measures ordered by the Kamuhanda trial Chamber in July 2000. He was sentenced to ten months imprisonment. The chamber, however, gave him credit for time served, having been in custody of the tribunal since February 2008 and thus ordered his immediate release. Nshogoza voluntarily surrendered to the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda (ICTR) at its seat in Arusha, Tanzania in February 2008 and was immediately placed under ICTR custody. Ends

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Nshogoza loses appeal