Leon Mugesera, widely regarded as one of the chief architects of the 1994 Genocide against the Tutsi, is expected to make his second appearance before court today.The Nyarugenge Intermediate Court on February 2 gave Mugesera a period of two months to get lawyers of his choice before the mention of his case.The two months elapsed today and prosecution spokesperson, Alain Mukurarinda, confirmed yesterday that Mugesera would appear before court. During the February appearance, the suspect who stands accused of three counts claimed he needed enough time to put together his defence team as he never trusted his sole lawyer, Donat Mutunzi. Mugesera was early this year deported from Canada after a legal battle that lasted close to two decades.He is charged with planning the 1994 Genocide against the Tutsi, inciting the public to commit genocide and distribution of weapons.Much of his charges stem from an incendiary public speech he gave in 1992 in western Rwanda, in which he called upon the Hutu to take up arms and kill the Tutsi, whom he, at the time, referred to as scum, among other derogatory names. Appearing before Judge Saudah Murererehe in February, Mutunzi, said: “My client was not interrogated by the judicial police and prosecution because he needs to have lawyers of his choice first.” His argument won the favour of the judge who granted Mugesera two months to undergo necessary interrogations and acquire lawyers. In a recent twist, the prosecution’s efforts to interrogate Mugesera hit a snag as he deliberately declined to be interrogated in Kinyarwanda - a language he used in the 1992 speech. Mugesera’s first appearance in court was conducted in Kinyarwanda and he responded to the judge in Kinyarwanda. Legal experts believe that Mugesera’s move to request to be interrogated in French is a trick aimed at making his Kabaya speech lose context. However, according to Prosecutor General Martin Ngoga, ‘prosecutors will go ahead and file the indictment based on the facts and evidence available.’One of the reasons Mugesera gave the interrogators was that he expects foreign lawyers to be part of his defence, but Prosecution says the judiciary cannot work in anticipation. Shortly after the infamous speech, Tutsis were executed in large numbers in Bigogwe and Bugesera, which is widely viewed as a precursor to the Genocide that took place two years later.
