L-R: Rusesabagina and the two FLN former spokespersons- Nsabimana and Nsengimana
The High Court Chamber of International and Cross-border Crimes has ruled in favour of having a joint trial of a terrorism case involving leaders and members of Rwanda Movement for Democratic Change- National Liberation Front (MRCD-FLN).
The joint trial of the suspects includes Hotel Rwanda ‘hero’ Paul Rusesabagina (alleged chief financier) and two former FLN spokesmen- Callixte Nsabimana and Herman Nsengimana among the 18-men suspected for conducting terror operations, murder and arson on Rwandan soils since 2018.
All the suspects were arrested at different timelines since 2018 terror attacks on Rwanda, and have been currently under provisional detention and battling court cases.
The High court decision taken this December 3, 2020 was based on a prosecution case that requested the court (of competence) to have an immediate in-depth trial of all the 18 FLN suspects currently held in Rwanda.
In a case filed on November 17, 2020 Prosecution argued in their case that all the suspects had similar and related charges thus the need to have all the detained suspects tried together.
The prosecution request and subsequent High court decision however, relates to earlier requests made by the FLN spokesmen and their lawyers- who had also asked for a joint trial with their so-called Boss- Rusesabagina.
The High Court Chamber of International & Cross-border Crimes also took a decision to set January 26, 2021 as the in-depth trial date for the Rusesabagina and group of FLN suspects.
