Mugesera refuses to be quizzed in Kinyarwanda

The Prosecution has expressed frustration over Genocide suspect Leon Mugesera’s refusal to be interrogated in Kinyarwanda – a language he used in his ‘radical’ speech. The Prosecution is basing on Mugesera’s incendiary speech in Kabaya in 1992 to implicate him for his role in the Genocide against the Tutsi. In the speech which he made in Kinyarwanda, Mugesera who was by then the vice-chairman of the former ruling party is alleged to have incited the killing of Tutsi (whom he referred to as scum) and tossing their bodies into Nyabarongo river, a tributary of the Nile, as a short cut to Abyssinia (Ethiopia), where they ‘came from’.In an interview with The New Times, Prosecutor General, Martin Ngoga, said that his office will not violate the laws just to honour Mugesera’s request of being interrogated in French. “The law says that the suspect should be interrogated in the language he understands, not the language he imposes on the prosecutors,” said Ngoga. Charged with three counts of; planning the 1994 Genocide against the Tutsi, inciting the public to commit Genocide and distribution of weapons, Mugesera made his first appearance in court on February 2, where he was given two months to prepare his defence. His first appearance in court was conducted in Kinyarwanda and he responded to the judge in Kinyarwanda. According to Ngoga, “Every participant in the case; Mugesera and his lawyer, understand Kinyarwanda. The speech at Kabaya which constitutes the object of the crime he is accused of was in Kinyarwanda.” Legal experts believe that Mugesera’s move of requesting to be interrogated in French is a trick aimed at making his Kabaya speech lose context. However, according to Ngoga, ‘the Prosecutors will go ahead and file the indictment based on the facts and evidence available.’“He can go on and raise his language issue with the court when the trial commences. We believe he is just pretending,” added the Prosecutor General. One of the reasons Mugesera gave the interrogators was that he expects foreign lawyers to jet in for his defence, but Ngoga said that the judiciary can’t work in anticipation. “If they are hoping to have lawyers who don’t understand Kinyarwanda, the point is, we do not have them yet, he may as well bring those who speak Portuguese or Spanish. We do not work in anticipation, we tackle issues as they arise,” said Ngoga. When The New Times contacted Mugesera’s lawyer, Donat Mutunzi, on why Kinyarwanda wasn’t his client’s favoured language, he said he could not go into details without the authorisation of his client. “…but the Constitution allows the use of three official languages,” said Mutunzi. Mugesera is expected to re-appear in court on April 2.

National

Mugesera refuses to be quizzed in Kinyarwanda