Antoine Ruvebana
On March 7, Gasabo Intermediate Court has sentenced a former Permanent Secretary (PS) Antoine Ruvebana to 10-years in jail after finding him guilty of defiling girls in Switzerland.
Ruvebana was PS at the Ministry of Disaster Management and Refugee Affairs (MIDIMAR).
Prosecution showed that the alleged crimes were committed between 2005- 2013 when Ruvebana was on official government duty in Switzerland and back home.
The court said that Ruvebana was found guilty on the basis of evidence from testimonies and a medical report that he defiled his victims who were code-named VAF. BCF and BEF.
During the hearing which was held in camera, Ruvebana pleaded not guilty, saying that everything was set up by his wife who wanted to divorce him.
However, the evidence tabled in court indicated that one of his victims was defiled since she was six years, which was shown in medical reports (losing virginity) even though not conclusively attaching this to the defendant.
Court evidence presented in the above victim’s testimony showed that Ruvebana also allegedly defiled her for the last time in 2013, when the girl was in the second year of secondary school.
The prosecution had sought to convict Ruvebana to 25 years in jail, but based on the fact that he was a first time offender with no criminal record, the judge reduced the sentence to 10 years “as way of allowing the convicted suspect to reform”.
The court fined Ruvebana with Rwf1.
The convict has at least five days to appeal the court ruling to a higher court.
