The substantive trial of 20 terror suspects linked to MRCD and its militia wing FLN, is slated to kick off on Wednesday, February 17, at the hall of the Supreme Court, will be live-streamed.
The trial will be moved to the Supreme Court chambers, which according to the judiciary has enough space to accommodate more people who have expressed interest in attending the hearing.
This was confirmed by the Spokesperson of the Judiciary, Harrison Mutabazi, in an interview with The New Times on Monday, February 15.
“There are many people who had requested to attend the substantive trial, but because of the current Covid-19 protocols, not all of them will attend physically. Therefore, we are planning to live stream the hearing. Public access to court hearings is also in line with the rule of law,” he said.
The trial will kick-off at 8:30 am, and proceedings will be relayed on a YouTube channel on which the hearing will be streamed which will be announced in due time, he added.
The accused include Paul Rusesabagina, the political figurehead of the militia group and its successive spokespersons Callixte Nsabimana and Herman Nsengimana.
Both Nsabimana and Nsengimana, whose joint trial had already started, last year requested court to enjoin their case with that of Rusesabagina, whom they reaffirmed was their boss.
Rusesabagina had also during pre-trial proceedings admitted before court that he had sent money to different FLN officials including Nsabimana, with whom he said he was in regular contact.
Other co-accused include Félicien Nsanzubukire (also known as Fred Irakiza), Anastase Munyaneza, and Jean-Chrétien Ndagijimana (son of the late FLN commander Laurent Ndagijimana, also known as Wilson Irategeka).
The group is jointly charged with criminal offences including terrorism, financing terrorism, conscription of child soldiers, kidnapping, arson, and forming terror groups, among other charges.
They are also allegedly responsible for making incursions in south-western Rwanda in 2018, where at least nine people were killed, leaving many others injured.
According to Mutabazi, so far, none of the accused said they will not attend the trial, and considering the number of people expected to attend the hearing, Covid-19 guidelines will not be compromised.
The trial was primarily set to take place from the Nyanza-based High Court Chamber for International and Cross-Border Crimes, but because of the current Covid-19 guidelines that among others restrict large gatherings, the hearing was transferred to Kigali where there are wider courtrooms.
However, the High Court is still the one handling the case.
Besides the accused, their lawyers, and the prosecution, other people expected to attend the hearing include civil parties mainly from families affected by the insurgents by the armed group.