Johanneburg – News reaching our desk right now are saying that the Rwanda Military High Court has without reservation sentenced Lt. Col Rugigana Ngabo, Kayumba Nyamwasa’s young brother, to 9 years in prison.
We spoke to Frank Ntwali, the chairperson of RNC Africa region and the brother-in-law to Lt Col Rugigana who told us that “ what do you expect for a dictator to do in such case. Like I always say, all systems are manipulated by a single individual, Paul Kagame.”
As reported by guardian.co.uk, Stephen Rapp, who leads the US Office of Global Criminal Justice, told the Guardian the Rwandan leadership may be open to charges of “aiding and abetting” crimes against humanity in a neighbouring country – actions similar to those for which the former Liberian president Charles Taylor was jailed for 50 years by an international court in May.
Rapp’s warning follows a damning United Nations report on recent Rwandan military support for M23, an insurgent group that has driven hundreds of thousands of people from their homes since April as it seized territory in the eastern DRC.
Lt. Col Rugigana Ngabo was arrested on the 20th August 2010 by the National Security Service due to alleged involvement in terrorism act, claimed by Lt Col Jill Rutaremara, spokesperson of RDF. We stiill establishing whether the president of Rwanda, Paul Kagame’s decision to handed over the sentence to Lt Col. Rugigana Ngoga has to do with the pressure from the international community or simply a revenge.
JD Mwiseneza
Johannesburg