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Rwanda: Prosecution Rests Its Case On Ex-High Ranking Official Kalimanzira
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Hirondelle News Agency (Lausanne)
30 June 2008
Posted to the web 1 July 2008
Arusha
The prosecution case against Callixte Kalimanzira, a former high ranking government official, rested Monday without the last witness testifying, reports Hirondelle Agency.
Kalimanzira, acting Minister for Interior during the 1994 genocide, is accused of three counts of genocide and crimes against humanity. He has pleaded not guilty.
The trial, which began on 5 May, is expected to resume in November although no exact date was fixed during the brief status conference held Monday morning.
The 24 prosecution witnesses who testified for a 16-day period, constitutes one of the fastest before the Arusha-based International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda (ICTR), trying the key architects of the April-July killings.
The prosecution and defence lawyers, however, were opposed over the length of the questioning; the cross-examinations of the defence lasting almost twice as long as that of the prosecution's.
Kalimanzira was a close acquaintance of Interim President Theodore Sindikubwabo and Prime Minister Jean Kambanda and an influential member of then ruling party MRND. He has been in detention since November 2005.
According to the prosecution, the accused participated in hate meetings which encouraged killings and did not even have mercy even on refugees who pleaded for help when killings started on Kabuye Hill, which was site of horrific killings of over 20,000 mainly ethnic Tutsis.
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The prosecution is led by Catherine Graham (Australia) and the defence by Arthur Vercken (France). The Chamber is presided by Dennis Byron (St-Kitts and Nevis), ICTR president.
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