The trial of 21 terror suspects linked to MRCD and its militia wing FLN slated to kick off on Wednesday, February 17, will be live-streamed via YouTube. The case is being tried by the High Court Chamber for International and Cross Border Crimes and will be held at the main trial chamber of the Supreme Court in Kimihurura. This was confirmed by the Spokesperson of the Judiciary, Harrison Mutabazi, in an interview with The New Times on Monday, February 15. According to the judiciary, the trial has been moved to the Supreme Court chambers because the venue has enough space to accommodate all the accused, their defence teams, media and some of those who have expressed interest in attending. However, not everyone will be accommodated in the chamber. “There are many people who had requested to attend the trial, but because of the current Covid-19 protocols, not all of them will attend physically. Therefore, we are planning to livestream the hearing. Public access to court hearings is also in line with the rule of law,” Mutabazi said. The trial will kick-off at 8:30 am, and proceedings will be relayed live on a YouTube channel which will be announced in due course, he added. The accused include Paul Rusesabagina, the political figurehead of the militia group and its successive spokespersons Callixte Nsabimana and Herman Nsengimana. Both Nsabimana and Nsengimana, whose joint trial had already started late last year, requested the court to merge their case with that of Rusesabagina, who they referred to as their boss. Rusesabagina had during pre-trial proceedings admitted before court that he had sent money to different FLN officials including Nsabimana, with whom he said he was in regular contact. He faces nine charges including formation of an irregular armed group, financing terrorism, membership of a terrorist group, murder, and arson among others. Other co-accused include Félicien Nsanzubukire (also known as Fred Irakiza), Anastase Munyaneza, and Jean-Chrétien Ndagijimana (son of the late FLN commander Laurent Ndagijimana, also known as Wilson Irategeka). The group is jointly charged with criminal offences linked to terrorism. They are also alleged to be responsible for making incursions into south-western Rwanda in 2018, where at least nine people were killed, and many others injured. According to Mutabazi, so far, none of the accused has said they will not attend the trial, and considering the number of people expected to be present, Covid-19 guidelines will not be compromised. This was also highlighted by Moise Nkundabarashi, the lawyer of Nsabimana, who said that both him and his client are ready for Wednesday’s hearing. “My client and I were tested for Covid-19 yesterday, and we have had ample time to meet in preparation of the hearing,” he said. Efforts to get a comment from Gatera Gashabana, the lawyer for Rusesabagina, were futile by press time as he did not answer his phone. Besides the accused, their lawyers, and the prosecution, other people expected to be part of the trial include civil parties mainly representing families affected by the attacks of the FLN armed group.
