05.12.07 - ICTR/MILITARY 1 - BRUGUIERE’S REPORT FILED AS EVIDENCE IN THE TRIAL OF COL. BAGOSORA

Arusha, December 4th 2006 (FH) - The report of French judge Jean-Louis Bruguière’s investigation on the assassination of the former President of Rwanda Juvénal Habyarimana was filed as evidence this Monday in the trial of Col. Théoneste Bagosora, accused of being the « brain » of the 1994 genocide, the Hirondelle Agency reports. « We have decided to admit the report in its entirety », Erik Mose (Norway), president of the chamber in charge of the joint trial of Bagosora and his three co-accused, has declared during the hearing. This report, which has led to Kigali’s cutting off all diplomatic relations with Paris, accuses the sitting Rwandan president, Paul Kagame, of being the chief instigator of the attack which caused the death of his predecessor on April, 6th 1994. The Rwandan president denies this claim. According to the presiding judge, the Chamber considers that the report can be « useful » for understanding the « context » of the 1994 massacres in Rwanda. The document has been admitted at the demand of Mr. Raphaël Constant (France), Col. Bagosora’s attorney, who conducted the cross-examination of the former second-in-command of the United Nations Assistance Mission in Rwanda in 1994, Col. Luc Marchal (Belgium). The admission of the report was requested last Friday in the same trial by the defense of the brigadier general Gratien Kabiligi, ex-commander of the military operations for the Rwandan Army Staff. Bagosora and Kabiligi appear before the court alongside the ex-commander of the Gisenyi operational sector (north), Lieutenant-colonel Anatole Nsengiyumva and the ex-commander of the para commando unit, Major Aloys Ntabakuze. The men are charged with crimes of genocide, crimes against humanity and war crimes. All four plead not guilty. Their trial started in April 2002 and should be closed on December 13th when the presentation of defense witnesses is over. The judges’ hearing of the prosecutor’s charge and of the closing arguments of the defense teams are scheduled for the first semester of 2007. ER/PB Hirondelle News Agency