The project
French
Kinyarwandan
| MAY 31st, 2001
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NAIROBI/ SENDASHONGA
SENDASHONGA TRIO ACQUITTED OF MURDER
Nairobi, 31st May, 2001 (FH) - A Nairobi court on Thursday acquitted all three men accused of murdering former Rwandan Interior Minister Seth Sendashonga, saying that evidence produced by the prosecution did not link them to the assassination.
"The prosecution did not prove that the men who killed Sendashonga were the ones in court," said Justice Msagha Mbogholi. He found that none of the three accused were at the shooting, although the first accused may have known about the plot to kill Sendashonga.
“I am persuaded that the murder was political," Justice Mbogholi said. "The driver may have been killed by gunfire aimed at the late Sendashonga, or to ensure that the identity of the killers was not known.”
Sendashonga was shot dead in his car in broad daylight in a Nairobi suburb on May 16th, 1998, along with his driver Jean Bosco Nkurubukeye. Kenyan police arrested three suspects shortly afterwards. They are David Akiki Kiwanuka (Rwandan), Charles Muhanji Wamuthoni and Christopher Lubanga Mulondo (both Ugandan).
Police said the first accused, Kiwanuka, confessed to masterminding the murder to avenge his father who was allegedly swindled of some 54 million US dollars by Sendashonga, and that the other two suspects had confessed to helping plan the murder. However, all three pleaded not guilty.
Prosecution evidence not convincing
Justice Mbogoli summed up evidence heard in court since the case restarted in July 2000. This included the fact that a prior attempt had been made on Sendashonga’s life, in 1996; testimony by Sendashonga's widow in December last year; and that a police inspector had declared in his testimony that his efforts to investigate the case were “frustrated”.
Justice Mbogoli said that the accused had been put on their defence and that they all denied having killed Sendashonga and Nkurubukeye.Three independent assessors who followed the case returned a unanimous decision that the accused were not guilty, he continued, “but it is not binding, and I have made my own independent ruling,” the judge added.
Justice Mbogoli said that the prosecution had proved beyond reasonable doubt that Sendashonga and his driver died of gunshot wounds. But he said the two witnesses who saw the alleged killers running away from a getaway car testified in court that the men were “tall”. “The two witnesses were emphatic that these [the three accused] were not the people they saw,” said the judge.
The judge said prosecution had not proved that the three accused were at the scene of the
murder. He added that a comb retrieved from the getaway car had hair samples removed, and that tests showed the hair was not that of the accused.
Justice Mbogoli said ballistic experts had testified that the deceased were killed with an AK- 47 rifle. It has not been recovered to date, he noted. Police officers had testified that a pistol was found in the home of the accused, but it was not the weapon used in the shooting, he added.
“I believe, however, that the first accused [Kiwanuka] made contact with a police informer [Ali] but that contact ceased after the accused failed to attend subsequent meetings,” said Justice Mbogholi. The judge noted that although the second and third accused gave police officers their statements, police officer Kathae disbelieved them.
Justice Mbogholi said the deceased’s widow, Cyrie Sendashonga, had testified that she believed the killing was political. “I saw the wife testify, I watched her demeanour and I believe what she was saying is true,” Justice Mbogoli said. He added that Mrs Sendashonga had lived with the deceased for 23 years and must have known him well. She described him as a man of high principals, believing in justice.
Moderate Hutu
Sendashonga was a moderate Hutu, a member of the political bureau of the pro-Tutsi Rwandan Patriotic Front (RPF). He was Interior Minister in the first government formed by the RPF, but was forced to resign in mid-1995, along with the then Hutu Prime Minister Faustin Twagarimungu and two other ministers for denouncing “acts of vengeance” by the Rwandan army against civilians.
The Judge said that the late Sendashonga had fallen out with the government of Rwanda, that he must have known a lot and was also in contact with diplomats and people opposed to human rights abuses in Rwanda. “His elimination was imminent,” the Judge added.
He noted that the Rwandan government refused to waive diplomatic immunity for an officer in its embassy in Kenya who was suspected of being involved in the 1996 attempt on Sendashonga’s life.
On the theory that the killing could have been in revenge for a business deal turned sour, the Judge said that when Sendashonga died and this theory was raised, the then foreign minister of Rwanda (Anastase Gasana) discounted it, saying Sendashonga was not capable of swindling any one.
Justice Mbogoli said that when police officers recorded Kiwanuka’s statement despite those facts, their investigations “took a road into oblivion”. Kathae, he said, was more cautious, but his quest for justice was “frustrated”, as he testified, by the Rwandan government, particularly its refusal to waive diplomatic immunity to facilitate investigations.
“The first accused may have known of the plot, but that does not make him guilty of murder. Each one of them is acquitted and should be freed henceforth,” Justice Mbogoli said.
The case has dragged on since June 1998 with many adjournments. At one point, it had to start afresh with a new judge and a new prosecutor. The prosecution produced 19 witnesses, while the defence failed to bring any, apart from the accused who gave unsworn statements.
Defence lawyer for the accused, John Murethi Waiganjo, told the court that the families of the accused had "broken up under pressure from the investigators", and that "this is not a case anyone wanted to have anything to do with".
Lawyer wants fresh investigations, freed accused fears for his life Nairobi lawyer Mary Kasango, who has been sitting in the hearings for the Sendashonga family, urged the court to order fresh investigations into the murder of the former minister. She said afterwards that she would pursue the issue by writing to Kenya’s Attorney-General.
Defence lawyer Waiganjo expressed “delight” that his clients had been acquitted. “The defence is delighted,” he said in court, after the ruling.
"However," he added, “I have a rather strange application that my client wants me to make. Kiwanuka prays that the court should place him under the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees, as he fears for his life."
Justice Mbogoli said the court had no jurisdiction and urged Waiganjo to pursue the issue on Kiwanuka’s behalf.
Prosecutor Tabitha Wanyama was not immediately available to comment, as she was still in court attending another case.
Waiganjo confirmed reports that he had received death threats. “Yes it is true, I have received some calls,” he said. But he said he feared more for his freed clients, especially Kiwanuka. “They are weary, but very happy with the judgement,” he said. Meanwhile, the accused were in the police cells finalizing formalities before they could leave the Nairobi High Court free men.
JC/SW/MBR/FH (SS_0531f)
MAY 3rd, 2001
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NAIROBI/ SENDASHONGA
SENDASHONGA TRIO "NOT GUILTY", SAY COURT ASSESSORS
Nairobi, May 3rd, 2001 (FH) Three suspects in custody for the murder of former Rwandan Interior Minister Seth Sendashonga are not guilty, court assessors who have been following their case told the Nairobi High Court on Thursday.
In a unanimous opinion, the three assessors told Justice Msagha Mbogholi that the state had "failed to prove beyond reasonable doubt that the accused (had) committed the offence”. The assessors' verdict is not binding on the judge. Justice Mbogholi will give a final verdict on May 31st. The accused face the death penalty if found guilty.
Sendashonga was shot dead in his car in broad daylight in a Nairobi suburb on May 16th, 1998, along with his driver Jean Bosco Nkurubukeye. Kenyan police arrested three suspects shortly afterwards. They are David Akiki Kiwanuka (Rwandan), Charles Muhanji Wamuthoni and Christopher Lubanga Mulondo (both Ugandan).
Police said the first accused, Kiwanuka, confessed to masterminding the murder to avenge his father who was allegedly swindled of some 54 million US dollars by Sendashonga, and that the other two suspects had confessed to helping plan the murder. However, all three accused have pleaded not guilty.
The court assessors said although the state had proved that the cause of Sendashonga and Nkurubukeye's deaths was gunshot wounds, there was no proof that the three accused were at the murder scene.
Assessor Moses Mwangi, reading a summary on behalf of the three, said that according to testimonies in court, "the murder weapon, believed to be an AK-47 rifle, has never been recovered to date". He said the state prosecutor had proved that Kiwanuka recruited the second and third accused and that there was an intention to kill. However, he reminded the court that Kenyan police officer and prosecution witness John Kathae, who investigated the case, said he was "frustrated and unable to extend his investigations”.
Mwangi also noted that the wife of the first deceased {Cyrie Sendashonga} had testified that an attempt had been made on her husband's life in February 1996. "She was of the opinion that it was politically motivated," Mwangi said. "Under the circumstances, due to the state’s failure to prove beyond any reasonable doubt that the accused committed the offence, we enter a verdict of not guilty on all accused to the charge of murder."
Lengthy Trial
The Sendashonga murder trial has dragged on since June 1998 with many adjournments. In July last year, the case was restarted under a new judge and with a new prosecution team.
Defence counsel John Mureithi Waiganjo told the court on January 25th this year that the three were charged because “Sendashonga’s killing was an embarrassment to the lapse by [Kenyan] government security, and the Rwandan government frustrated investigations because the killing was political”. Rwanda has denied any involvement in the killing.
“The murderers of Sendashonga and John Bosco are out there and none is before the court today,” Waiganjo said in his closing arguments.
The defence counsel recalled that the deceased’s wife {Cyrie Sendashonga} had, in her testimony to the court, said she believed her husband’s murder was purely political. Police officer Kathae, a witness for the prosecution, had agreed with the theory, saying that the first accused’s statement was full of “untruths”, according to Waiganjo.
The prosecution was scheduled to produce 25 witnesses, but 19 testified.
The court found the accused had a case to answer, and they were put on their defence on March 28th. Defence was not able to produce witnesses, however. Waiganjo said the families of the accused had "broken up under pressure from the investigators" and that "this is not a case anyone wanted to have anything to do with". The three accused all made unsworn statements to the court in which they presented alibis.
Sendashonga, a moderate Hutu, was a member of the political bureau of the pro-Tutsi Rwandan Patriotic Front (RPF) which won the 1994 civil war in Rwanda, ending the genocide and taking power in July that year. He was Interior Minister in the first government formed by the RPF, but was forced to resign in summer 1995, along with the Hutu Prime Minister of the day Faustin Twagiramungu and two other ministers, for denouncing "acts of vengeance" by the Rwandan army against the civilian population.Sendashonga fled into exile in Nairobi. From there, he set up with Twagiramungu (who fled to Belgium) a pressure group against the government in Kigali.
In 1996, he survived an attempt on his life, also in Nairobi, and a diplomat from the Rwandan embassy in Nairobi was arrested near the scene of the crime carrying the weapon used in the attack. Diplomatic relations between Kenya and Rwanda were temporarily suspended and the diplomat was expelled from the country.
SW/JC/FH (SS_0503e)
APRIL 25th, 2001
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NAIROBI/SENDASHONGA
PROSECUTION CLOSES ITS CASE IN EX-MINISTER'S MURDER TRIAL
Nairobi, April 25th, 2000 (FH) - The key suspect on trial for the murder of former Rwandan Interior Minister Seth Sendashonga sought to hire gangsters to kill him, the prosecution maintained in its closing arguments to the Nairobi High Court on Wednesday.
Sendashonga and his driver John Bosco Ndikurubkeye were shot dead in broad daylight in a Nairobi suburb on May 16th, 1998. Shortly afterwards three suspects -- David Akiki Kiwanuka, Charles Muhanji alias Wamuthoni and Christoper Lubanga Mulondo -- were arrested and charged with murder.
Prosecutor Tabitha Wanyama urged the Nairobi court to declare all three men guilty, on the basis of testimony from witnesses, especially police officers who were investigating the case. Kenyan police accuse Kiwanuka of masterminding the murder to avenge his father who was allegedly swindled of some 53 million US dollars by Sendashonga. Police claim that the other two suspects confessed to helping Kiwanuka plan the killing, but all three deny committing the murder.
Defence counsel John Mureithi Waiganjo maintains that all three accused are innocent but were charged because “Sendashonga’s killing was an embarrassment to the lapse by [Kenyan] government security and the Rwandan government frustrated investigations because the killing was political”. Rwanda has denied any involvement in the murder.
The three accused have been in remand since their arrest and could face the death penalty if found guilty. Murder is a capital offence in Kenya. The court, presided over by Judge Msagha Mbogholi, will sum up the case on May 3rd, and set a date for the judgement.
Plot to hire a killer
In her closing arguments, prosecutor Wanyama reminded the court that one of the police officers, Michael Ewoi, had testified in February that an informer had warned on May 14th, 1998 of a plot to “hire a killer”. Ewoi said that before Sendashonga was killed, a police informer had given police a tip that “a man wanted to hire a killer”. Prosecution said that the informer led officers to a meeting with Kiwanuka, in Kibera, on the outskirts of Nairobi.
Wanyama said that Kiwanuka, the first accused, wanted Sendashonga killed “urgently” and had earlier taken the other two suspects "to show them his [Sendashonga’s] residence, his place of work and a restaurant he frequented”.
Prosecution maintained that Kiwanuka was ready to offer a weapon and money to the officers who were following a tip by an informer and who posed as hit-men ready to hire. He allegedly offered 100,000 Kenyan shillings for the job, although officers who testified denied having received any money. The officers were to meet Kiwanuka again, on May15th, to proceed with “the plan” but Kiwanuka did not show up, the court heard.
“May 15th and May 16th are too close to imagine that someone else planned the Sendashonga killing,” Wanyama told the court. She said that although the three suspects had pleaded not guilty, they had not disassociated themselves from the murder plan and that their actions between May 14th and 19th, 1998, were suspect.
The defence closed its case on March 28th, without bringing any witnesses. All three accused presented alibis in unsworn statements to the court. Wamuthoni's wife had been expected to testify but did not turn up at the lawyer's office. Defence counsel John Mureithi Waiganjo said that it had been impossible to trace other witnesses. He told Hirondelle that the families of the accused had "broken up under pressure from the investigators" and that "this is not a case anyone wanted to have anything to do with".
Waiganjo argued that the three should be acquitted, as the state did not have enough evidence to warrant a conviction. He pointed out that there was no material evidence and that the testimonies of police officers were full of contradictions.
The case has dragged on since June 1998 with many adjournments. At one point, it had to start afresh with a new judge and a new prosecutor. In December 2000, Sendashonga’s widow testified as a civil party, saying that the current Rwandan government of President Paul Kagame had been responsible for her husband’s death. During cross-questioning in the Nairobi court, she also named a Rwandan embassy official known as Alphonse Mbayire as one of the people involved. Mbayire was killed in Kigali in February by unidentified gunmen.
Prosecution witness John Kathae, a Kenyan police officer with the CID (Criminal Investigations Department) who was formerly in charge of the case, told the court under cross-questioning that he had not found Kiwanuka’s story credible, and that he believed the murder was political. Kathae told the court that Mbayire used to visit Kiwanuka regularly and was sponsoring his family. Police officer Kathae said he had wished to interrogate Mbayire but his attempts were frustrated.
Sendashonga was a moderate Hutu, a member of the political bureau of the pro-Tutsi Rwandan Patriotic Front (RPF). He was Interior Minister in the first government formed by the RPF, but was forced to resign in mid-1995, along with the then Hutu Prime Minister Faustin Twagarimungu and two other ministers for denouncing “acts of vengeance” by the Rwandan army against civilians.
SW/JC/MBR/FH (SE_0425e)
APRIL 5th, 2001
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NAIROBI/ SENDASHONGA
PROSECUTION DELAY IN SENDASHONGA CASE DISAPPOINTS COURT
Nairobi, April 4th, 2001 (FH) - The hearing of the case against three suspects charged with murdering former Rwandan Interior Minister Seth Sendashonga was Thursday adjourned to April 25th before Nairobi High Court, because the prosecution was not ready to make final submissions, reports the independent news agency Hirondelle.
Justice Msagha Mbogholi said that the request for an adjournment was “very unfortunate”, and that if the case had not been at a crucial stage he would have rejected it. “I will very reluctantly grant the application for the 25th,” Justice Mbogholi added.
Sendashonga and his driver John-Bosco Nkurubukeye were shot dead in a Nairobi suburb on May 16th 1998. The three accused -- David Akiki Kiwanuka, Charles Muhanji alias Wamuthoni and Christopher Lubanga Mulondo -- were arrested and charged with the murder shortly afterwards.
Kenyan police say Kiwanuka masterminded the killing in a move to avenge a business deal turned sour between the late minister and Kiwanuka's father. The other two suspects allegedly “confessed” to the police that they helped Kiwanuka plan the killing, but all three have pleaded not guilty.
Prosecutor Elizabeth Wanyama told the court that she had taken over from another counsel who was abruptly transferred and therefore needed more time to prepare. But defence counsel John Mureithi Waiganjo opposed the request, reminding the court that at the last session on March 28th, the prosecution had said it would be ready. A prosecution representative said at that time that the submissions would take about 20 minutes.
“That statement implied that they had facts and were ready to proceed,” he told the court. He said the accused had now been in remand for nearly three years and that “they are worn out, in a state of helplessness, and their only hope is pegged on the conclusion of this case”.
During the last hearing, the defence failed to produce any witnesses. The three accused gave short testimonies in unsworn statements whereby the prosecution could not cross-examine them.
Waiganjo stated that the families of the suspects had been distressed by the arrests, evicted by their landlords and some harassed by police. The wife of the first accused has fled and he does not know her fate, according to Waiganjo. “These are people who are now living in anxiety, uncertainty and who do not know where they will go from here,” defence counsel told the court on Thursday.
In submissions in February, Waiganjo argued that the three should be acquitted, as the state did not have enough evidence to warrant a conviction. He pointed out that there was no material evidence and that the testimonies of police officers were full of contradictions. The state brought sixteen witnesses in the case.
He also told the court earlier that the three were innocent, but were charged because "Sendashonga’s killing was an embarrassment to the lapse by [Kenyan] government security, and the Rwandan government frustrated investigations because the killing was political”. Rwanda has denied any involvement.
Sendashonga, a moderate Hutu, was a member of the political bureau of the pro-Tutsi Rwandan Patriotic Front (RPF) which won the 1994 civil war in Rwanda, ending the genocide and taking power in July that year. He was Interior Minister in the first government formed by the RPF, but was forced to resign in summer 1995, along with the Hutu Prime Minister of the day Faustin Twagiramungu and two other ministers, for denouncing "acts of vengeance" by the Rwandan army against the civilian population.
Sendashonga fled into exile in Nairobi. From there he set up with Twagiramungu (who fled to Belgium) a pressure group against the government in Kigali. In 1996, he survived an attempt on his life, also in Nairobi, and a diplomat from the Rwandan embassy in Nairobi was arrested near the scene of the crime carrying the weapon used in the attack. Diplomatic relations between Kenya and Rwanda were temporarily suspended and the diplomat was expelled from the country.
JC/SW/FH (SS_0405e)
MARCH 28th, 2001
KENYA / SENDASHONGA
DEFENCE FAILS TO BRING WITNESSES IN SENDASHONGA MURDER CASE
Nairobi, March 28th, 2001 (FH) - The defence for three men accused of murdering former Rwandan minister Seth Sendashonga on Wednesday closed its case before the Nairobi High Court without bringing any witnesses. The three accused all submitted alibis to the court in unsworn statements.
Sendashonga and his driver John-Bosco Nkurubukeye were shot dead in broad daylight in a Nairobi suburb on May 16th, 1998. The three suspects -- David Akiki Kiwanuka, Charles Muhanji Wamuthoni and Christopher Lubanga Mulondo -- were arrested and charged with murder shortly afterwards. The first accused is Rwandan while the other two are Ugandan.
Kenyan police accuse Kiwanuka of masterminding the murder to avenge his father who was allegedly swindled of some 53 million US dollars by Sendashonga. Police claim that the other two suspects confessed to helping Kiwanuka plan the killing, but all three deny committing the murder. In November 1998, a lower court acquitted Kiwanuka of three out of five charges against him, including conspiracy to murder.
"On the date in question, May 16th, 1998, I was fully committed in my residence to work of repairing some mechanics, and I never moved out at all," the first accused Kiwanuka told the court. He said he had "given a reference" for his family, a housekeeper and the mechanics he was working with to appear before the court and support his alibi, but that after his arrest "they [Kenyan police] frustrated my family by harassing them and went as far as holding my wife for three good days, demanding lump sums of money for her release". Kiwanuka said that his wife had been forced to "flee the country and join my mother" in western Tanzania.
The second accused, Wamuthoni, told the court that he was "travelling from Mombasa" on the day of the murder, that he was arrested on May 19th (three days later) and was asked if he knew Kiwanuka but "I told them I did not". "I was not involved in the murder of Sendashonga and Bosco," he told the court. The third accused told the court that he was at home on the day of the murder.
Wamuthoni's wife had been expected to testify but did not turn up at the lawyer's office. Defence counsel John Mureithi Waiganjo told Hirondelle that it had been impossible to trace other witnesses. He said the families of the accused had "broken up under pressure from the investigators" and that "this is not a case anyone wanted to have anything to do with".
Asked why the accused had elected to give unsworn statements, rather than sworn statements from the box, he said it had been their choice. Under Kenyan law, the accused had three options: to give a sworn statement and face cross-questioning afterwards; to make an unsworn statement, in which case they would not face cross-questioning; or to say nothing.
Waiganjo told the court that he would not make any further submissions, except to restate his argument that "these three were not involved. The actual murderers are still out there, roaming dangerously".
In his submissions last month, Waiganjo argued that the three should be acquitted, as the state did not have enough evidence to warrant a conviction. He pointed out that there was no material evidence and that the testimonies of police officers were full of contradictions. The state brought sixteen witnesses in the case. The defence counsel also told the court earlier that the three were innocent, but were charged because "Sendashonga’s killing was an embarrassment to the lapse by [Kenyan] government security, and the Rwandan government frustrated investigations because the killing was political". Rwanda has denied any involvement.
Justice Msagha Mbogholi adjourned the case to April 5th, when the prosecution will make final submissions.
Seth Sendashonga, a moderate Hutu, was a member of the political bureau of the pro-Tutsi Rwandan Patriotic Front (RPF) which won the 1994 civil war in Rwanda, ending the genocide and taking power in July that year. He was Interior Minister in the first government formed by the RPF, but was forced to resign in summer 1995, along with the Hutu Prime Minister of the day Faustin Twagiramungu and two other ministers, for denouncing "acts of vengeance" by the Rwandan army against the civilian population.
Sendashonga fled into exile in Nairobi. From there he set up with Twagiramungu (who fled to Belgium) a pressure group against the government in Kigali. In 1996, he survived an attempt on his life, also in Nairobi, and a diplomat from the Rwandan embassy in Nairobi was arrested near the scene of the crime carrying the weapon used in the attack. Diplomatic relations between Kenya and Rwanda were temporarily suspended and the diplomat was expelled from the country.
JC/PHD/FH (SS_0328e)
MARCH 22nd, 2001
KENYA / SENDASHONGA
SENDASHONGA MURDER TRIAL ADJOURNED FOR DEFENCE TO BRING WITNESS
Nairobi, March 22nd, 2001 (FH) - The trial of three suspects accused of murdering former Rwandan Interior Minister Seth Sendashonga was adjourned by a Nairobi court on Thursday, to allow the defence to produce one witness willing to testify.
Sendashonga and his driver John-Bosco Nkurubukeye were shot dead in broad daylight in a Nairobi suburb on May 16th, 1998. The three suspects -- David Akiki Kiwanuka, Charles Muhanji alias Wamuthoni and Christopher Lubanga Mulondo -- were arrested and charged with murder shortly afterwards.
Kenyan police accuse Kiwanuka of masterminding the murder to avenge his father who was allegedly swindled of some 53 million US dollars by Sendashonga. Police claim that the other two suspects confessed to helping Kiwanuka plan the killing, but all three deny committing the murder.
Defence counsel John Mureithi Waiganjo appealed to Justice Mbogholi Msagha at the Nairobi High court to "give a chance to that one witness" who is willing to testify. The lone witness is to appear for the third accused, but did not come in time for the hearing scheduled Thursday. The defence lawyer said there were no witnesses available to testify for the first and second accused.
Waiganjo said that defence had difficulties producing witnesses and that the obvious ones, such as the suspects' wives, could not be traced. "After the three were arrested and remanded, their homes were left in distress," Waiganjo said. He added that family members had moved to unknown places of abode.
The testimony of the lone witness will be followed by that of the three accused, and the defence will then close its case. Justice Mbogholi set a new date of March 28th for the next hearing. The three face the death penalty if convicted. Sixteen witnesses testified for the prosecution. In his submissions last month, Waiganjo argued that the three should be acquitted, as the state did not have sufficient evidence to warrant a conviction. He earlier told the court that the three were innocent, but were charged because "Sendashonga’s killing was an embarrassment to the lapse by [Kenyan] government security, and the Rwandan government frustrated investigations because the killing was political". Rwanda has denied any involvement.
Sendashonga, a moderate Hutu, was a member of the political bureau of the pro-Tutsi Rwandan Patriotic Front (RPF) which won the 1994 civil war in Rwanda, ending the genocide and taking power in July that year. He was Interior Minister in the first government formed by the RPF, but was forced to resign in summer 1995, along with the Hutu Prime Minister of the day Faustin Twagiramungu and two other ministers, for denouncing "acts of vengeance" by the Rwandan army against the civilian population.
Sendashonga fled into exile in Nairobi. From there he set up with Twagiramungu (who fled to Belgium) a pressure group against the government in Kigali. Shortly before his death, Sendashonga had been expected to testify before the UN’s International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda (ICTR) as an expert witness for the defence.
In 1996, he survived an attempt on his life, also in Nairobi, and a diplomat from the Rwandan embassy in Nairobi was arrested near the scene of the crime carrying the weapon used in the attack. Diplomatic relations between Kenya and Rwanda were temporarily suspended and the diplomat was expelled from the country.
JC/SW/PHD/FH (SS_0322e)
MARCH 6th, 2001
NAIROBI/ SENDASHONGA
COURT SAYS FORMER RWANDAN MINISTER’S MURDER SUSPECTS HAVE A CASE TO ANSWER
Nairobi, March 6th, 2001 (FH) Three suspects charged with the murder of former Rwandan Interior Minister Seth Sendashonga have a case to answer, a Nairobi court said on Tuesday. Justice Msagha Mbogholi ruled that the case would continue on March 22nd, when the defence are expected to bring witnesses.
Sendashonga and his driver John Bosco Nkurubukeye were shot dead in broad daylight in a Nairobi suburb on May 16th, 1998, in what some observers believe was a political killing. The Rwandan government has denied any involvement in the murder.
The three accused -- David Akiki Kiwanuka, Charles Muhanji alias Wamuthoni and Christopher Lubanga Mulondo -- were arrested and charged with murder shortly after the killing. Kenyan police accuse Kiwanuka of masterminding the murder to avenge his father whom Sendashonga allegedly swindled of some 53 million US dollars. Police claim that the other two suspects confessed to helping Kiwanuka plan the killing, but all three deny committing the murder.
The case against the trio restarted afresh in July last year under a new judge, Justice Mbogholi, and a new prosecution team, after frequent previous adjournments. The judge is assisted by three court assessors.
Prosecution had originally lined up 25 witnesses, but 16 actually testified. Under the Kenyan system, defence does not call witnesses in a murder case unless the court finds that the defence has a case to answer. Had it found otherwise, the accused would have been acquitted.
Defence counsel John Mureithi Waiganjo said he was "shocked" by the court’s decision. “I expected at least the second and third accused to be acquitted,” he said.
In his submissions last month, Waiganjo argued that the three should be acquitted, as the state did not have sufficient evidence to warrant a conviction. He earlier told the court the three were innocent, but were charged because "Sendashonga’s killing was an embarrassment to the lapse by [Kenyan] government security, and the Rwandan government frustrated investigations because the killing was political".
Sendashonga, a moderate Hutu, was a member of the political bureau of the pro-Tutsi Rwandan Patriotic Front (RPF) which won the 1994 civil war in Rwanda, ending the genocide and taking power in July that year. He was Interior Minister in the first government formed by the RPF, but was forced to resign in summer 1995, along with the Hutu Prime Minister of the day Faustin Twagarimungu and two other ministers, for denouncing "acts of vengeance" by the Rwandan army against the civilian population.
Sendashonga fled into exile in Nairobi. From there he set up with Twagarimungu (who fled to Belgium) a pressure group against the government in Kigali. Shortly before his death, Sendashonga had been expected to testify before the UN’s International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda (ICTR) as an expert witness for the defence.
In 1996, he survived an attempt on his life, also in Nairobi, and a diplomat from the Rwandan embassy in Nairobi was arrested near the scene of the crime carrying the weapon used in the attack. Diplomatic relations between Kenya and Rwanda were temporarily suspended and the diplomat was expelled from the country.
JC/PHD/FH (SS_0306e)
FEBRUARY 12th 2001
___________________________________________________________________
NAIROBI/ SENDASHONGA
DEFENCE SAYS SENDASHONGA’S REAL KILLERS NOT IN COURT
Nairobi, February 12th, 2001 (FH) Defence counsel for three suspects charged with murdering former Rwandan Interior Minister Seth Sendashonga told a Nairobi court on Monday that his clients should be acquitted, and that the real killers were not in court.
“The state has failed to make a case against the three and their evidence hopelessly falls below the standards required in criminal justice,” lawyer John Mureithi Waiganjo said during his closing arguments.
Sendashonga was shot dead in his car in broad daylight in a Nairobi suburb on May 16th, 1998, along with his driver Jean Bosco Nkurubukeye. Kenyan police arrested three suspects shortly afterwards. They said the first accused, David Akiki Kiwanuka, confessed to masterminding the murder to avenge his father who was allegedly swindled of some 54 million US dollars by Sendashonga, and that the other two suspects had confessed to helping plan the murder. However, all three accused have pleaded not guilty.
Defence counsel Waiganjo told the court on January 25th this year that the three were charged because “Sendashonga’s killing was an embarrassment to the lapse by [Kenyan] government security, and the Rwandan government frustrated investigations because the killing was political”. Rwanda has denied any involvement in the killing.
“The murderers of Sendashonga and John Bosco are out there and none is before the court today,” Waiganjo said in his closing arguments.
The defence counsel recalled that the deceased’s wife Cyrie Sendashonga had, in her testimony to the court, said she believed her husband’s murder was purely political. Police officer John Kathae, a witness for the prosecution, had agreed with the theory, saying that the first accused’s statement was full of “untruths”, Waiganjo continued.
Circumstantial evidence
Waiganjo told the court that the police investigations were “not exhausted” and that the evidence adduced was largely circumstantial. He said the testimony of police officers who appeared as prosecution witnesses was “contradictory”.
The defence maintains that police were negligent, as the officer handling the case had 14 years’ standing and “had prior knowledge” that the deceased was in danger.
Defence also said evidence by police officer Daniel Seroney was contradicted by officer Michael Ewoi, and also by the police informer called Ali. Seroney said he was the first to be told by Ali that a man was “looking for a killer to hire”. However, Ali had said he first reported to an “officer Amina”. Officer Ewoi testified that he and officer Ezekiel Opur called Seroney on learning of the shooting on May 16th, while Seroney said he called the officers himself.
Waiganjo said these and other contradictions made the police evidence “vulnerable, unreliable, explicitly suspect and dangerous to go by”.
Sendashonga, a moderate Hutu, was a member of the political bureau of the pro-Tutsi Rwandan Patriotic Front (RPF) which won the 1994 civil war in Rwanda, ending the genocide and taking power in July that year. He was Interior Minister in the first government formed by the RPF, but was forced to resign in summer 1995, along with the Hutu Prime Minister of the day Faustin Twagarimungu and two other ministers, for denouncing "acts of vengeance" by the Rwandan army against the civilian population.
Sendashonga fled into exile in Nairobi. From there he set up with Twagarimungu (who fled to Belgium) a pressure group against the government in Kigali. Shortly before his death, Sendashonga had been expected to testify before the UN’s International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda (ICTR) as an expert witness for the defence.
In 1996, he survived an attempt on his life, also in Nairobi, and a diplomat from the Rwandan embassy in Nairobi was arrested near the scene of the crime carrying the weapon used in the attack. Diplomatic relations between Kenya and Rwanda were temporarily suspended and the diplomat was expelled from the country.
Assessors’ submissions on March 6th
The prosecution declined to make a separate closing argument, saying that: “The public will rely entirely on the evidence submitted before this court. That is all.” Prosecution had originally lined up 25 witnesses, but 16 actually testified.
Under the Kenyan system, defence does not call witnesses in a murder case unless the three court assessors rule that the defence has a case to answer. Justice Msagha Mbogholi said that the court assessors should sum up the case on March 6th. The court will then set a date for the final judgement.
Meanwhile, news reports said senior Rwandan military official Alphonse Mbayire, one of the people suspected of involvement in Sendashonga’s murder, was shot dead by unidentified gunmen in the Rwandan capital Kigali last Wednesday. Mbayire was a high-ranking military officer in the Rwandan Patriotic Army (RPA). Until recently, he served at the Rwandan embassy in Nairobi, reportedly as an intelligence officer.
Mbayire’s name had recently come up several times in the Nairobi murder trial of Sendashonga. In December, Sendashonga’s widow Cyrie told the court that Rwandan President Paul Kagame’s government was responsible for her husband’s death, and named embassy official Mbayire as one of the people involved in the assassination.
On January 25th, Kenyan police officer John Kathae, formerly in charge of investigating the Sendashonga murder, said that he had wanted to interrogate Mbayire, after the chief suspect’s wife told him Mbayire was visiting the family regularly. “I wrote to higher authorities requesting diplomatic immunity to be waived so that we could interrogate him, but the authorities did not respond," prosecution witness Kathae said under cross-questioning.
JC/SW/MBR/FH (SS_0212e).
FEBRUARY 1st 2001
NAIROBI/ SENDASHONGA
POLICE POSED AS HIT-MEN TO “TRAP KILLER”, SAYS WITNESS
Nairobi, February 1st, 2001 (FH) - The last prosecution witness in the murder case of slain former Rwandan Interior Minister Seth Sendashonga told a Nairobi court on Thursday that he was assigned by officer Daniel Seroney of Kenya’s Criminal Investigations Department (CID) to follow a tip by an informer that "a man wanted to hire a killer".
The officer, Michael Ewoi, told the court that he was a member of Kenya’s notorious Alfa Romeo “flying squad” [rapid response team to armed robbery now disbanded], but declined to answer some questions from the defence regarding his duties in Alpha Romeo. He also gave contradictory evidence about his precise whereabouts on the day of the murder.
According to Ewoi, Seroney assigned him to the task on May 14th, 1998, two days before Sendashonga and his driver were shot dead in broad daylight in a Nairobi suburb. Officer Seroney had testified on December 19th last year, that officers were warned on May 14th, 1998 of "a plot to hire a killer".
Shortly after the killing, three suspects -- David Akiki Kiwanuka, Charles Muhanji alias Wamuthoni and Christopher Lubanga Mulondo -- were arrested and charged with murder. Kenyan police say the first accused confessed to masterminding the murder to avenge his father who was swindled of some 54 million US dollars by Sendashonga. Police claim that the other two suspects had also confessed to helping plan the killing, but said they never had a chance to carry it out.
However, all three accused have pleaded not-guilty. Their defence counsel, John Mureithi Waiganjo, claimed at a hearing on January 25th this year that the three were innocent, but were charged because “Sendashonga’s killing was an embarrassment to the lapse by [Kenyan] government security, and the Rwandan government frustrated investigations because the killing was political”.
Ewoi told the court he saw the police informer called Ali in Seroney's office in May 1998. Seroney then deployed him (Ewoi) to go with the informer under the guise of a willing hit-man to meet the would be killer, Ewoi told the court. He said that the person who wanted to hire a killer was the first accused, Kiwanuka. The officer added that Ali, the informer, took him and officer Ezekiel Opur in his car (on May 14th) and parked in a petrol station in Kibera (on the outskirts of Nairobi). Officer Ewoi said the informer brought Kiwanuka to the car and "we talked for about 30 minutes".
Ewoi said he did not know the name of the first accused (Kiwanuka) “but recognized his face”. Asked what they spoke about in the car, Ewoi replied that the first accused told him he wanted to kill "someone". Ewoi said the accused (Kiwanuka) did not tell him the name of the man but gave him a registration number UNEP108CDK .
The witness said that he and officer Opur told the accused they would "do the work but had no weapon". He added that the accused said he would provide them with a gun from Uganda and that they would meet on May 15th. However, Officer Ewoi said the accused did not meet him as agreed. On the 16th, he told the court, he heard that someone had been shot dead on Forest Road, and on hearing the registration number of the slain driver, he "realised it was the one we had been given by the first accused".
Contradictions
On cross examination, officer Ewoi said that he did not know when Sendashonga was shot. He also said that he did not recall exactly where he was on that day. When questioned further by the defence, he said that he was between Athi River and Ngong. But he later said that he was in Kibera.
On re-examination by the prosecutor, however, he said he was at a place called Mlonlongo "going for lunch". It was at about 5pm, Ewoi said, that he heard on the radio that someone had been shot dead on Forest Road. Earlier, Ewoi told the court that Seroney said that they must go to see Ali and that Ali pointed out Kiwanuka's house. But during cross-questioning, he said he did not know the accused's house. He also denied receiving any money from Kiwanuka although he said the accused had pledged 100,000 Kenyan shillings for the job. He made no mention of the second and third accused.
In his testimony in December, Seroney said that police officers camped at Kiwanuka's house waiting for him to emerge, only to hear of the killing two days after they had been contacted by the informer.
Closing arguments start February 12th
Ewoi’s testimony marked the closure of the state’s case. Justice Mbogholi granted a week for prosecution to prepare final submissions. Both parties are expected to present their closing arguments on February 12th. The prosecution is expected to argue that the murder was in revenge for a business deal turned sour, while the defence is expected to say that the three accused were used as a cover-up for a political assassination by the current Rwandan government. Rwanda has denied any involvement in the killing.
Sendashonga, a moderate Hutu, was a member of the political bureau of the pro-Tutsi Rwandan Patriotic Front (RPF) which won the 1994 civil war in Rwanda, ending the genocide and taking power in July that year. He was Interior Minister in the first government formed by the RPF, but was forced to resign in summer 1995, along with the Hutu Prime Minister of the day Faustin Twagarimungu and two other ministers, for denouncing "acts of vengeance" by the Rwandan army against the civilian population.
Sendashonga fled into exile in Nairobi. From there he set up with Twagarimungu (who fled to Belgium) a pressure group against the government in Kigali. Shortly before his death, Sendashonga had been expected to testify before the UN’s International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda (ICTR) as an expert witness for the defence. According to lawyers who had held preliminary talks with him, he was prepared to testify, among other things, on the "manipulation" of prosecution witnesses brought before the Tribunal.
SW/JC/MBR/FH (SE_0201e)
JANUARY 31st 2001
NAIROBI/SENDASHONGA
MURDER TRIAL OF EX-RWANDAN MINISTER GOES INTO FINAL STAGE
Arusha, January 31st, 2001 (FH) The murder trial of former Rwandan Interior Minister Seth Sendashonga is expected to resume on Thursday before a Nairobi High Court, with the testimonies of two last prosecution witnesses, followed by the closing arguments of the two parties. The prosecution is expected to argue that the murder was in revenge for a business deal turned sour, while the defence is expected to say that the three accused were used as a cover-up for a political assassination by the current Rwandan government. Rwanda has denied any involvement in the killing.
Sendashonga, a moderate Hutu, was a member of the political bureau of the pro-Tutsi Rwandan Patriotic Front (RPF) which won the 1994 civil war in Rwanda, ending the genocide and taking power in July that year. He was Interior Minister in the first government formed by the RPF, but was forced to resign in summer 1995, along with the Hutu Prime Minister of the day Faustin Twagarimungu and two other ministers, for denouncing "acts of vengeance" by the Rwandan army against the civilian population.
Sendashonga fled into exile in Nairobi. From there he set up with Twagarimungu (who fled to Belgium) a pressure group against the government in Kigali. Shortly before his death, Sendashonga had been expected to testify before the UN’s International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda (ICTR) as an expert witness for the defence. According to lawyers who had held preliminary talks with him, he was prepared to testify, among other things, on the "manipulation" of prosecution witnesses brought before the Tribunal.
The former minister was shot dead in his car in broad daylight in a Nairobi suburb on May 16th, 1998, along with his driver. In 1996, he had survived a similar attempt on his life, also in Nairobi, and a diplomat from the Rwandan embassy in Nairobi was arrested near the scene of the crime carrying the weapon used in the attack. Diplomatic relations between Kenya and Rwanda were temporarily suspended and the diplomat was expelled from the country.
Kenyan police arrested three suspects shortly after the assassination. They said the first accused confessed to masterminding the murder to avenge his father who was swindled of some 54 million US dollars by Sendashonga. Police claimed that the other two suspects had also confessed to helping plan the killing but said they never had a chance to carry it out. However, all three accused have pleaded not-guilty. Their defence counsel John Mureithi Waiganjo claimed at a hearing on January 25th this year that the three were innocent, but were charged because “Sendashonga’s killing was an embarrassment to the lapse by [Kenyan] government security, and the Rwandan government frustrated investigations because the killing was political”.
Waiganjo was speaking during cross-questioning of prosecution witness John Kathae, a Kenyan police officer with the CID (Criminal Investigations Department) who was formerly in charge of the case. Under cross-questioning, Kathae admitted that when interrogating the first accused David Akiki Kiwanuka, he had not found Kiwanuka’s story credible, and that he believed the murder was political.
Kathae told the court that during his investigations, he also interrogated Kiwanuka’s wife, who said that a Rwandan embassy official named Alphonse Mbayire was sponsoring their family and that the official used to visit Kiwanuka regularly. Kathae wished to interrogate Mbayire and asked for provisions to be made for such an investigation. “ I wrote to higher authorities requesting diplomatic immunity to be waived so that we could interrogate him, but the authorities did not respond," Kathae said.
The case has dragged on since June 1998 with many adjournments. At one point, it had to start afresh with a new judge and a new prosecutor. In December 2000, Sendashonga’s widow testified as a civil party, saying that the current Rwandan government of President Paul Kagame had been
responsible for her husband’s death. During cross-questioning in the Nairobi court, she also named a Rwandan embassy official known as Alphonse Mbayire as one of the people involved.
The counsel representing Mrs Sendashonga and her family, Mary Kasango, had earlier stated that witnesses, including the widow, feared to testify, as their lives were under threat. But in an interview in Canada, Mrs Sendashonga said that she had decided to speak out because: "I will not let them kill Sendashonga a second time. First they murdered him and now they want to kill his name by calling him a thief. I will not allow it."
Mrs Sendashonga said that her husband met the then General Kagame [now president of Rwanda] through RPF, and that their relationship was cordial until Sendashonga started questioning the activities of the army. She further said that whilst still a minister in the Rwandan government, Sendashonga had been threatened for his continued reports on "atrocities committed by the Rwandan army”.
Mrs Sendashonga told the Nairobi court that as minister, Sendashonga wrote about 760 letters to the then Defence Minister Kagame, detailing crimes committed by the army. Asked whether she had copies of these letters, she said that she had surrendered them to the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda (ICTR).
JC/MBR/FH (SE_0131e)
JANUARY 25th 2001
KENYA / SENDASHONGA
INVESTIGATIONS INTO RWANDA MINISTER’S MURDER "FRUSTRATED"
Nairobi January 25th, 2001 (FH) - Investigations to identify the killers of slain former Rwandan Interior Minister Seth Sendashonga were "frustrated", a police officer told a Nairobi High Court on Thursday.
Sendashonga was shot dead on May 16th, 1998, together with his driver, in broad daylight in a Nairobi suburb. Three suspects, David Akiki Kiwanuka, Charles Muhanji alias "Wamuthoni", and Christopher Lubanga Mulondo were charged shortly afterwards with his murder and have been in remand.
Police officer John Kithae of the Criminal Investigations Departments (CID) admitted during cross-examination by defence lawyer John Mureithi Waiganjo that investigations into the killing of the former minister were "frustrated". Kithae said that the three suspects were "handed over" to him by another officer, Daniel Seroney (CID), for interrogation, following which he [Kithae] started investigating the case. Seroney testified before the same court on December 19th.
According to Kithae, the first accused Kiwanuka admitted on interrogation that he planned Sendashonga’s murder because Sendashonga, whilst a minister in Rwanda, had swindled the accused’s father out of some 50 million US dollars. However, Kithae also told the court that he believed the killing was "political" because efforts to follow up were "frustrated by the Rwandan government". He added that he wrote to "higher authorities, particularly regarding an attack in 1996 against Sendashonga by someone from the Rwandan Embassy" but got no reply.
"They refused to waive his diplomatic immunity", Kithae said. Asked if he carried out investigations beyond the Kenyan border, or if he attempted to talk to the suspected official from the Rwandan embassy, officer Kithae answered that "we have no powers".
Kithae said that Kiwanuka admitted hiring the other two suspects to help him in his plot to kill Sendashonga. But all the three deny actually carrying out the plan. He also told the court that during his investigations he interrogated Kiwanuka’s wife, who said that a certain "Alphonse" from the Rwandan embassy in Nairobi had been sponsoring the family.
Kithae told the court that Seroney had information about the second and third suspects "prior to the incident" and had deployed officers to follow up the issue. During cross-examination, Kithae said that he did not believe in Kiwanuka’s recorded statement because the first accused appeared "too intelligent".
The officer added that the weapon (a pistol produced in court as an exhibit) surrendered by the suspects was another "plot" by the first accused to "lead the investigators to a false trail". Ballistic experts who testified in court in December said that the pistol was not the murder weapon.
Kithae also told the court that his efforts to identify the owners of the motor vehicle used by Sendashonga’s assailants and abandoned at the murder scene were also "negative". There was no response from the registrar of motor vehicles and "importation documents of the vehicle were missing", he said. "Another frustration?", asked counsel Waiganjo. "It is true," Kithae replied.
The police officer also added that DNA samples of hair from a comb found in the assailants’ vehicle did not match with that of any of the accused.
"If you did not believe the first accused’s recorded statement, the other two are "decoys", the weapon recovered from them is not the murder weapon, they have not confessed to the killing, then why are they here?" Waiganjo asked. "It is upon this honourable court to decide their fate," Kithae replied.
Waiganjo maintained that the three were innocent, but were charged because "Sendashonga’s killing was an embarrassment to the lapse by [Kenyan] government security and the Rwandan government frustrated investigations because the killing was political".
Prosecutor Rose Mukungu asked the court for an adjournment, saying there were two more witnesses, who could not make it to court. Waiganjo objected on grounds that the accused had been in remand for a long time, and that the state should close its case if its witnesses were not available.
Justice Mbogholi granted what he said would be the last adjournment. He said the hearing would continue on February 1st.
SW/JC/PHD/FH (SE_0125e)
DECEMBER 19th 2000
NAIROBI/ICTR/SENDASHONGA
DEFENCE ATTACKS POLICE VERSION OF RWANDAN MINISTER'S MURDER
Nairobi, December 19th, 2000 (FH) - The hearing of the murder case of slain
former Rwandan Interior Minister Seth Sendashonga continued Tuesday, with a
Kenyan police investigator testifying that the three alleged killers
“confessed” to the crime. But defence counsel for the accused attacked the police version, only a day
after Sendashonga's widow told the court it was a political crime.
Officer Daniel Seroney of the Criminal Investigations Department (CID) said
that an "informer” had told him on May 14th, 1998, "that there was a plot to
hire a killer". That was two days before the former minister was shot dead
in broad daylight.
Defence counsel for the three accused, John Mureithi Waiganjo, asked why
Seroney had not in that case alerted the former minister to the danger.
“Why did you not inform Sendashonga that his life was in danger?" Waiganjo
asked. "I put it to you that your slowness and negligence cost Mr
Sendashonga his life."
The late Sendashonga was shot in Nairobi on May 16th, 1998 along with a
bodyguard. There had been a similar attempt on his life in February 1996.
Three suspects, David Akiki Kiwanuka, Charles Muhanji alias Wamuthoni and
Christopher Lubanga Mulondo were arrested shortly after the killing and
charged with murder.
Kenyan police maintain that confessions from the accused point to a
Mafia-style vengeance killing over money, but many observers believe the
murder was political and that there was a cover-up. The three suspects have
pleaded not guilty. Their defence counsel maintains that they were forced to
accept "written" statements to avoid police torture.
Sendashonga, a moderate Hutu, was a member of the political bureau of the
pro-Tutsi Rwandan Patriotic Front (RPF) which won the 1994 civil war in
Rwanda, ending the genocide and taking power in July that year. He was
Interior Minister in the first government formed by the RPF, but was forced
to resign in summer 1995 along with the Hutu Prime Minister of the day
Faustin Twagarimungu and two other ministers, for denouncing "acts of
vengeance" by RPF soldiers against the civilian population. Sendashonga fled
into exile in Nairobi.
On Monday, Sendashonga's widow testified before Justice Msagha Mbogholi at
the Nairobi High Court when the case resumed. She stressed that her
husband's murder was political and added that she wanted the case
investigated so the true killers could be identified. Mrs. Sendashonga
accused the current Rwandan government of being behind the murder. She was
testifying as a civil party.
Contradictions
Seroney told the court that police officers kept watch on Kiwanuka’s house
after the “warning” by the “informer”, who said Kiwanuka was looking for
gangsters to help with the killing. But defence counsel Waiganjo claimed
there were serious contradictions between the officer’s written statement
and what he said in court.
The CID officer denied any pressure on the suspects, but told the court
they all confessed quickly. He said they were interrogated separately and
then together. “After about 15 minutes, the suspects, all Ugandans,
confessed,” he said. Kiwanuka has previously been described as a Rwandan.
According to Seroney, Kiwanuka confessed to financing the killing and hiring
the other two suspects to avenge his father who was involved in swindling
money from the Rwandan state. Sendashonga, according to Kiwanuka's reported
confession, stopped this corrupt money deal because he wanted to keep the
funds for himself. Police said the deal involved embezzlement of some 54
million US dollars in 1995.
Seroney insisted that his account of events was true and that he had taken
Kiwanuka to the head of the CID Noah arap Too “because it was a sensitive
information (sic) and I wanted him (Too) to hear what the suspect was
saying”.
The defence counsel, however, said there were contradictions between
Seroney's references to “written” statements by the suspects, and the
suspects' own account of their confession. He also noted that the gun police
recovered is not the murder weapon and that they have never recovered the
murder weapon. The case will resume on January 8th.
SW/JC/FH SS%1219e
DECEMBER 18th 2000
NAIROBI/SENDASHONGA
SLAIN MINISTER’S DEATH WAS ‘POLITICAL’, SAYS HIS WIDOW
Nairobi, December 18th, 2000 (FH) - Slain former Rwandan Interior Minister Seth Sendashonga was killed for political reasons and not because of a sour business deal as has been claimed, his widow Cyrie Sendashoga told a Nairobi Court on Monday. The former minister was shot dead in his car in broad daylight in Nairobi on May 16th, 1998, along with his bodyguard.
Mrs Sendashonga was categorical that the current Rwandan government had had a hand in her husband's death, saying there had been a previous attempt on his life in 1996 and that the Rwandan Embassy had refused to waive immunity on one of its officials who was implicated. She said after that, some reports in Rwanda claimed that the attempt to kill her husband was linked to diamonds “even though police in Kenya had arrested this person with a gun".
"In other words," defence counsel for the three accused John Mureithi Waiganjo asked Mrs Sendashonga, "the Kagame [Rwandan President] government is responsible for the death of your husband Seth Sendashonga?” "Yes,” she replied.
Sendashonga, a moderate Hutu, was a member of the political bureau of the pro-Tutsi Rwandan Patriotic Front (RPF) which won the 1994 civil war in Rwanda, ending the genocide and taking power in July that year. He was Interior Minister in the first government formed by the RPF, but was forced to resign in summer 1995 along with the Hutu Prime Minister of the day Faustin Twagiramungu and two other ministers, for denouncing "acts of vengeance" by RPF soldiers against the civilian population. Sendashonga fled into exile in Nairobi.
Vengeance theory refuted
Mrs Sendashonga was testifying before Justice Msagha Mbogholi at the Nairobi High Court when the case resumed. Kenyan police arrested the three suspects shortly after the killing. They said one of them, David Akiki Kiwanuka, had confessed to the murder to avenge his father who was involved in swindling money from the Rwandan state. Sendashonga, according to Kiwanuka's reported confession, stopped this corrupt money deal because he wanted to keep the funds for himself. Police said the deal involved embezzlement of some 54 million US dollars in 1995.
But his widow refuted this theory. “For me and the rest of the family we believe that this was a political and not a business matter, particularly when we recall the event in 1996,” Cyrie Sendashonga told the court. She said that when Kenyan police investigating the case approached her just after the murder, they said they were following three leads: political, robbery or business motives.
"Clearly this story of 54 million was just a fabrication," she told the court. "I don’t know for what motives, but it is not true." In her testimony, Mrs Sendashonga said that before he was killed, her
husband had been due to testify before the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda (ICTR). He was expected to appear as an expert witness for the defence and, according to lawyers who spoke to him, was prepared to talk about the "manipulation" of prosecution witnesses.
Mrs. Sendashonga also told the court that her husband was to be interviewed by a French parliamentary inquiry into France's 1990-94 role in Rwanda, including the Operation Turquoise (humanitarian/military intervention from June to August that year). She said that the Rwandan government was uncomfortable about this and a report had been aired that the French parliamentarians were “interviewing the wrong people --whatever that meant”.
The suspects Kiwanuka, Charles Muhanji alias Wamuthoni and Christopher Lubanga Mulondo have all pleaded not guilty. Kiwanuka was originally said to be Rwandan, but defence counsel now says all three are Ugandans. Kenyan police say Muhanji and Mulondo presented Kiwanuka as the "mastermind", that they plotted to kill Sendashonga but that he was killed before they got the
chance. Defence counsel maintains that the accused are not guilty, and that they failed to dispute their "written" statements only to avoid torture.
Counsel Mary Kasango representing Mrs Sendashonga and family told Hirondelle that the case had to start afresh in July this year because previous hearings were frequently adjourned. The case is now being heard by a different judge and has a new prosecution team. The murder trial began in
June 1999 but by the end of the year the then state prosecutor said he needed more time to convene witnesses.
The court adjourned until tomorrow morning because two prosecution witnesses had not arrived. Prosecutor Rose Mukungu said she had a total of 17 witness, 14 of whom had testified.
SW/JC/MBR/FH (SS%1218e)
ICTR/SENDASHONGA
ASSASSINATED RWANDAN HAD AGREED TO TESTIFY IN DEFENCE OF ACCUSED AT WAR
CRIMES TRIALS
Arusha, 18 May 1998 (FH) - The former Rwandan cabinet minister gunned down in Nairobi two days ago had agreed to testify in defence of two accused at the Rwandan war crimes tribunal, has learnt the Hirondelle Press Agency at the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda (ICTR) on Monday.
Seth Sendashonga, a former Minister of the Interior in the RPF (Rwandan Patriotic Front) government which came to power in the wake of the genocide in Rwanda in 1994, was shot in Nairobi on Saturday.
Defence counsel for former Rwandan businessman Obed Ruzindana told the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda (ICTR) that Sendashonga had already signed a paper confirming his intention to testify in defence of Ruzindana and his co-accused, the former Prefet of Kibuye, Clement
Kayishema.
Defence lawyer Pascal Besnier said that the testimony was to have been given "openly in public" and that the only conditions Sendashonga had put on his testimony was that notice of his intention to appear court be publicised "as late as possible".
Mr Besnier pointed out that Sendashonga was the first former member of the post genocide RPF government to offer to testify at the ICTR, and explained that his willingness to testify was because "he objected to the treatment of those suspected of genocide, and to the manipulation of certain
witnesses for the prosecution".
Expressing his "horror" at the killing, Mr Besnier also confirmed that Sendashonga had "never solicited" protection from the ICTR, and went on to emphasise the need for the "absolute protection of witnesses on both sides". Sendashonga escaped a previous assassination attempt in Nairobi in February
1996.
An assistant to ICTR Deputy Prosecutor Bernard Muna in Kigali, Maxwell Nkole, Monday said "I do not see that this incident should affect the course of the Tribunal" adding that "good co-operation with the Kigali government should continue as before".
AC/FB/FH (SS0518E)
TPIR/SENDASHONGA
BACKGROUND TO AN ASSASSINATION :
LAWYER CLAIMS MURDERED WITNESS WOULD HAVE INDICATED COLLUSION BETWEEN WAR CRIMES COURT AND RWANDAN AUTHORITIES
Arusha, 18 May 1998 (FH) - A defence lawyer at the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda (ICTR) claims that an assassinated witness would have testified to collusion between the ICTR and Rwandan authorities. "Witnesses have been taken to ICTR detectives by Rwandan authorities", Mr Besnier said Monday to the independant Hirondelle press agancy.
Pascal Besnier, defending former Rwandan businessman Obed Ruzindana, was commenting on the assassination of former Rwandan Interior minister Seth Sendashonga in Nairobi at the weekend. Earlier, in court, Mr Besnier had revealed that Sendashonga had agreed to testify as an expert witness in the joint trial for genocide and crimes against humanity Ruzindana and former
Prefet of Kibuye, Clement Kayishema.
Replying to questions about the likely importance of Sendashonga's testimony, Mr Besnier said "Sincerely, he was one of my main witnesses, not only for Obed Ruzindana, but also for Kayishema. [...] We would have asked Seth Sendashonga about the conditions under which ICTR investigators for
the Prosecution had managed to get hold of their witnesses."
He went on to say that Sendashonga's testimony had been expected to go along the same lines as that of an earlier witness at the ICTR, Rwandese human rights activist Joseph Matata. Matata, testifying in defence of another accused at the ICTR earlier this year, denounced the so called
"Syndicates of Informers" [Syndicats de délateurs] in Rwanda, which he suggested were responsible for setting up witnesses for the prosecution.
Besnier explained that "due to his [Sendashonga's] former position in a Rwandan Patriotic Front (RPF) government, and the extent of his authority, his testimony would have been more precise and carried more weight" [than Matata's]. He added, however, that he did not know how Sendashonga would have proved his claims.
According to Besnier, he and the defence lawyer for Kayishema, Andre Ferran, spoke to
Sendashonga eight days before his murder, at which time he told them that while he "did not want specifically to testify for Obed Ruzindana and Clement Kayishema", whom he did not know personally, he did want to call into question the "jurisdiction of the Rwandese authorities and the
credibility of those witnesses appearing for the Prosecution".
Sendashonga was Minister of the Interior in the RPF government which came to power in the wake of the genocide in July 1994. He was forced to resign in August 1995 for his criticism of an increase in so called "acts of vengeance" by RPF soldiers against Hutu civilians.
Comment is being sought from the Rwandan Ministry of Justice. Cabinet director Gérald Gahima is said to be out until 15h.00 GMT.
AC/FB/FH (SS&0518B) |