Defence witnesses testify in Bugingo trial

Defence witnesses in a case involving Genocide suspect, Sadi Bugingo, yesterday started to testify via a video-link from Kigali in a trial being held in the Norwegian capital, Oslo.Bugingo’s trial started last month when more than 20 witnesses flew to the Scandinavian country to testify against him.In yesterday’s proceedings, the first three defence witnesses told Court that Bugingo never took part in the killings of over 2,000 people in the former Kibungo region.But they all told the court that during the climax of the killings, they all went into hiding and that at one point, Bugingo spoke to the Interahamwe militia asking them not to kill his relatives and friends.The first three witnesses, whose testimonies were given in the open, are close relatives and friends of Bugingo.Although the video-link facility is located in the Prosecution’s Office, the Head of Fugitive Tracking Unit, John Bosco Siboyintore, said it was manned by Norwegian authorities and that the only responsibility of the Prosecutor General Office is to facilitate them where necessary.“This is why we don’t know the details of those to be questioned and when,” said Siboyintore.The New Times is reliably informed that a prominent Genocide convict serving a life sentence is today expected to testify as a prosecution witness.The suspect is alleged to have led, supervised and participated in massacres in the former Kibungo prefecture in eastern Rwanda.Bugingo’s trial is taking place in the same courtroom as the notorious Norwegian mass murderer, Anders Behring Breivik.Bugingo is accused of coordinating attacks and distributing food rations to the Interahamwe militia in Kibungo during the 1994 Genocide against the Tutsi.Prosecution witnesses allege that Bugingo was responsible for the killings at the Economat Général of Kibungo Catholic Diocese, at Kibungo Baptist Church, and at Kibungo Hospital. He is also accused of participating in the murder of Tutsi in various areas, including Birenga, Zaza, and Nyakarambi.The 47-year-old is also charged with transporting armed killers to several locations in Kibungo, where massacres took place, including at a local government building in Kibungo town. The region is among those that witnessed worst killings during the Genocide, which claimed over a million lives.

National

Defence witnesses testify in Bugingo trial