Former RTLM journalist loses appeal

KIGALI - THE former correspondent of the extremist Radio Television Libre des Mille Collines (RTLM) and proprietor of a Kinyarwanda publication, Kamarampaka, has lost his appeal to a life passed by a Gacaca Court in Kimisagara Sector, Nyarugenge District. Bernard Hategekimana, also known as Mukingo, was convicted on charges of inciting the killing of Tutsi during the 1994 Genocide using his publication. “His publications provided enough evidence that they played a key role in inciting the mass murders of the Tutsi during the Genocide,” said the President of the Gacaca court. Mukingo was also convicted of manning a notorious roadblock in a Kigali neighbourhood where several Tutsi were killed, including celebrated local singer Dieudonne Bizimungu and the wife. After presenting his appeals to court, he was pinned by several eye witnesses who said that he used to stage roadblocks with his colleagues in 1994 asking for identification cards from the people and those found to be Tutsi were killed. “Mukingo’s claims that he rescued several Tutsi from the hands of the Hutu militias who wanted to kill them are total lies,” said Suleiman Mwumvaneza one of the witnesses. Ends