Rwanda News Agency/Agence Rwandaise d'Information (Kigali)
7 August 2007
Kigali — Following the decision by French prosecutors to abandon the appeals process against the release of Genocide suspects, the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda (ICTR) says it is consulting with authorities in Paris over the matter, RNA has established.
According to the French news agency AFP, prosecutors at the Paris court of appeal have decided not to appeal the release of Father Wenceslas Munyeshyaka and Laurent Bucyibaruta wanted by the UN war crimes court.
Dr. Timothy Gallimore, spokesman of the tribunal chief prosecutor told RNA Tuesday that the prosecutor has been informed that 8 August is the deadline for the French prosecutor general to appeal the decision to the Supreme Court.
"The OTP (Office of Tribunal Prosecutor) continues its consultations with the French Ministry of Justice and other French officials about the matter and will wait for the review process to run its course before commenting further.", Gallimore said when contacted about the appeals drop.
Wenceslas Munyeshyaka, a 49-year-old Catholic priest, and Laurent Bucyibaruta, 62, a former official, are wanted by the Tanzania based UN war crimes court on charges of genocide and crimes against humanity.
On August, they appeared before a French court after their arrest and detention on warrants issued by the Tribunal formed in 1995 by the UN to bring to book the brains behind the catastrophy that befell Rwanda.
They were arrested in Paris on July 22 but released last Wednesday after the Paris appeal court ruled the ICTR arrest warrants could not be executed.
The two also stand accused in ongoing separate judicial proceedings in France for their alleged roles in the 1994 mass killings of Tutsis. The case was launched by Genocide survivors in France and a French campaign organization Survie.
The UN court's warrant stipulated that the men be held in custody pending a ruling by ICTR judges whether they be tried in the international court or in France. But the Paris court of appeal said this was an infringement of the right to be presumed innocent.
"It is also noteworthy that the Accused are not on the lose. They are, and have been for some time, under judicial supervision related to other legal action against them in French courts", Dr. Gallimore said today.
"The OTP continues its work on the matter and is confident that they will be brought to justice".
Government in Kigali was furious when the pair was released after welcoming the initial arrest, describing it as an indication that the new Sarkozy government in Paris was willing to renew ties with Kigali.
Cooperation between the two nations collapsed last November after controversial French judge Jean Louis Bruguiere called for the prosecution of Rwandan President Paul Kagame and some of his aides for shooting down the plane of former Rwandan president.
French officials have however declined to associate the arrest of the suspects to pressure from Rwanda, instead portraying the move as response to indictments by the Tribunal.
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