The case concerns two founders of the Radio Télévision Libre des Mille collines (RTLM), Ferdinand Nahimana and Jean Bosco Barayagwiza, as well as the former editor of the Hutu extremist newspaper Kangura, Hassan Ngeze.
On 3 December 2003, Nahimana and Ngeze had been sentenced to life in prison and Barayagwiza to 35 years in prison. They had been found guilty of direct and public incitement to commit genocide, via their press media. Their appeal was heard in January 2007.
Originating from Ruhengeri (northern Rwanda), Nahimana is a historian and former professor at the National University of Rwanda (UNR). He was a member of the presidential party of the time, the National Republican Movement for Democracy and Development (MRND). He was arrested in March 1996.
Barayagwiza, as for him, originates from Gisenyi province (northern Rwanda). After his graduate studies in the former Soviet Union, he spent his career at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and in diplomatic circles. He had been a high ranking executive at the headquarters of the Organization of African Unity (currently the African Union) in Addis Ababa. He is a founding member of the Coalition for the Defence of the Republic (CDR), a Hutu extremist party. He was arrested in March 1996.
Ngeze, contrary to the two others, had a particular life course. Without known formal education, he improvised as a journalist after having done minor trade jobs and is presented as "a street kid". He was arrested in July 1997.
ER/PB/MM
© Hirondelle News Agency
