The Nyamirambo Intermediate Court will tomorrow (Wednesday) render verdict on the application by Genocide suspect Jean Bosco Uwinkindi to be granted provisional release. Uwinkindi appeared in court following his transfer to Rwanda four mobnths ago from the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda (ICTR), which is based in Arusha, Tanzania.Upon transfer, Uwinkindi had first been presented before this same court; where he requested to be given time to prepare his defence, hence giving him the four months ago.Uwinkindi, a former pastor with the Pentecostal Church in Kanzenze, Bugesera in the former Kigali-Rural Prefecture, is accused of unleashing killers on thousands of Tutsi refugees, including members of his church, during the 1994 Genocide against the Tutsi.The short and corpulent man was clad in a light green checkered jacket and trousers. By about 15 minutes to 9:00am, he was seated at the extreme right corner on the first row in court.A worn out collar protruding out of a double breasted jacket and general appearance of the cleric-turned genocide suspect do not depict any sophistication to tally an array of charges levelled against him or his curriculum vitae in 1994 genocide.It was his second appearance to plead for his provisional release.Ndibwami Rugambwa led the prosecution team and city lawyer Gatera Gashabana is the lead defence counsel while presiding judge is John Byagatonda.Uwinkindi who has pleaded not guilty to all charges instructed his lawyer Gashabana to make submissions on his behalf.The lawyer told court that the warrant of arrest which forms the basis of his client’s continued detention was issued against a different person.“Uwinkindi Jean is under detention illegally and should be released with no hesitation,” he argued.Reading from the indictment which was issued by ICTR in 2001, Gatera said it was issued against a one Uwinkindi Jean Bosco and that inconsistency makes all actions that were based on it a nullity.The defence further charged that upon his arrest in Uganda, the accused was detained under inhuman conditions, which contravenes international conventions on human rights and the Rwandan constitution.The indictment against Uwinkindi alleges that prior to, and during, the Genocide he was a collaborator of the then ruling extremist MRND party and his aversion for Tutsi was widely known.Prosecution further alleges that during the Genocide, Uwinkindi led a group of killers to look for and exterminate Tutsi civilians.Ndibwami prayed to court not to grant the accused a provisional release because of the nature of the charges levelled against him. “There is compelling evidence that Uwinkindi committed these crimes…he may escape. I pray that he is tried while in detention,” he told court.Prosecution alleged that while a pastor at the Pentecostal church in Kanzeze,Uwinkindi formed what he called “a security committee” to which was the head.The committee solely planned and executed coordinated attacks against the Tutsis.Ndibwami further charged that when Tutsis put up a resistance against their killers, Uwinkindi approached commune Kanzeze for reinforcements in form of police and gendarmerie (the police then).At his church, there were many Tutsis who had taken refuge. From there, prosecution said Uwinkindi and his security committee would steal fully pick people to be killed from the nearby killing ground.“All those that were killed were civilians. Mostly they were children and women,” prosecution alleged, adding that these and other evidence form tangible ingredients calling for the suspect’s continued detention.“Basing on the adduced evidence and the fear that the accused is likely to escape, I pray that he remains under detention during trial,” the state submitted.Subsequently, the judge said the court shall deliver its verdict on the bail application on August 29, 2012.Uwinkindi was arrested in June 2010 in Uganda and was later transferred to the UN Detention Facility in Arusha.Through its Rewards for Justice Initiative; the United States had put on his head a price tag up to $5 million - for information leading to his arrest and conviction.
