Fugitive Rwandan MP in Uganda
Jun 09, 2009
The Rwandan authorities have appealed to the international police (Interpol) to arrest fugitive senator, Stanley Safari, thought to be hiding in Kampala.
By Vision Reporter
The Rwandan authorities have appealed to the international police (Interpol) to arrest fugitive senator, Stanley Safari, thought to be hiding in Kampala.
Relatives of the senator, whose party is in a coalition with the ruling Rwandan Patriotic Front, have confirmed that he is in Uganda.
In a letter of June 3, his children appealed to Amnesty International to intervene to prevent him from being extradited to Rwanda, reports The New Times.
Safari was last week found guilty of multiple counts of genocide-related charges by a Gacaca court in Huye and sentenced to life in prison.
He left the country a few days before his sentence was read.
“With the assistance of Rwandan and non-Rwandan friends, the senator left Rwanda and is now in Uganda,†the children said in the letter to Amnesty International.
“He is seriously sick and cannot attend court due to fear of being handed over to the Rwandan authorities on the basis of an agreement between the two countries (Rwanda and Uganda).â€
Reliable sources told The New Vision yesterday that Safari applied for a Schengen visa at a European embassy in Kampala last Thursday.
Ugandan Ambassador to Rwanda, Richard Kabonero, said his country was not aware of Safari’s presence in Uganda.
“Uganda has no space or place for any person who participated in the genocide.â€
Safari’s genocide trial began last year, but he objected to the jury from his home town claiming they were biased.
The national Gacaca jurisdictions then brought the Gacaca court in Kigali to try the case. He was accused of organising the murders of Helena Kayitesi and seven others, who had taken refuge at his house in Huye in 1994.
According to witnesses, Safari was also implicated in the massacre at the National University of Rwanda, where 60 Tutsi were killed, and at Gateme in Tumba sector, where 600 were killed, reports The New Times.
Last year, during an earlier trial for hoarding and looting of goods during the genocide, the senator was sentenced to a fine of 7 million Rwandan francs (sh27m).
The Rwandan authorities have appealed to the international police (Interpol) to arrest fugitive senator, Stanley Safari, thought to be hiding in Kampala.
Relatives of the senator, whose party is in a coalition with the ruling Rwandan Patriotic Front, have confirmed that he is in Uganda.
In a letter of June 3, his children appealed to Amnesty International to intervene to prevent him from being extradited to Rwanda, reports The New Times.
Safari was last week found guilty of multiple counts of genocide-related charges by a Gacaca court in Huye and sentenced to life in prison.
He left the country a few days before his sentence was read.
“With the assistance of Rwandan and non-Rwandan friends, the senator left Rwanda and is now in Uganda,†the children said in the letter to Amnesty International.
“He is seriously sick and cannot attend court due to fear of being handed over to the Rwandan authorities on the basis of an agreement between the two countries (Rwanda and Uganda).â€
Reliable sources told The New Vision yesterday that Safari applied for a Schengen visa at a European embassy in Kampala last Thursday.
Ugandan Ambassador to Rwanda, Richard Kabonero, said his country was not aware of Safari’s presence in Uganda.
“Uganda has no space or place for any person who participated in the genocide.â€
Safari’s genocide trial began last year, but he objected to the jury from his home town claiming they were biased.
The national Gacaca jurisdictions then brought the Gacaca court in Kigali to try the case. He was accused of organising the murders of Helena Kayitesi and seven others, who had taken refuge at his house in Huye in 1994.
According to witnesses, Safari was also implicated in the massacre at the National University of Rwanda, where 60 Tutsi were killed, and at Gateme in Tumba sector, where 600 were killed, reports The New Times.
Last year, during an earlier trial for hoarding and looting of goods during the genocide, the senator was sentenced to a fine of 7 million Rwandan francs (sh27m).