Prosecution seeks life sentence for Mushayidi

The High Court has set September 17, for the ruling in the case against, Deo Mushayidi, who was charged with causing state insecurity, working with a terrorist organization, Democratic Front for the Liberation of Rwanda (FDLR) and using false documents. The Prosecution, represented by Bonaventure Ruberwa, also accuse Mushayidi of promoting Genocide revisionism, ideology and sowing seeds of divisionism. They are pushing for three separate sentences; two life sentences and 50 years in jail for all the charges against him. But Mushayidi pleaded with the court to treat the evidence presented by the prosecution with caution. In his defence, the accused insisted that he worked with the FDLR at one point, but the intention was not to overthrow the current government, through military means. The FDLR is a group largely made up of remnants of the Ex-FAR and Interahamwe militia responsible for the 1994 Genocide against the Tutsi, and has been blacklisted by the United Nations as a terrorist group. His trial has seen Prosecution presenting several documents including email correspondences between Mushayidi and the group. The accused also admitted that he used false documents, saying that he was carrying a Burundian passport because he never wanted to be detected. He said though he carried forged passport, he was not the architect of the forgery.Mushayidi was arrested in Burundi and subsequently extradited to Rwanda on March 5, 2010. Mushayidi’s former colleague, Samuel Nsengiyumva, who lived with him in Karagwe, Tanzania, testified during the trial that the accused worked with armed groups which were preparing to attack Rwanda at some point in the future. Mushayidi is said to be part of a wider terror network that includes renegade military officers, Lt Gen Kayumba Nyamwasa and Patrick Karegyeya. Before his arrest, he was said to have criss-crossed the region for months in a bid to set up a network for his armed group, PDP-Imanzi. Mushayidi has had a long history of alliances and collaboration with terrorist organisations targeting Rwanda.Before he moved to the region, he was based in Belgium where he ran a vicious campaign against the Rwandan government on behalf of several organisations allied to the rebel FDLR and former senior members of the former regime. Ends

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Prosecution seeks life sentence for Mushayidi