Supporters of detained Rwandan opposition leader Victoire Ingabire demanded she be given a fair trial and denounced terrorism charges against her as “politically motivated”.
|||Supporters of detained Rwandan opposition leader Victoire Ingabire on Saturday demanded she be given a fair trial and denounced terrorism charges against her as “politically motivated”.
Ingabire heads the unregistered Unified Democratic Forces (FDU) party, which said her lawyers have yet to be given all the necessary court documents ahead of Monday's proceedings.
The politician, an outspoken critic of Rwandan leader Paul Kagame, has been in custody since her arrest in October.
“Her defence counsel have not yet received all the pieces of the file,” the FDU said in a statement.
“The government needs to stop its pressure and allow a proper, meticulous and thorough preparation of the defence,” it said.
The party condemned the trial as “politically motivated” and said Ingabire and other opposition members in custody were being held in “harsh conditions”.
Initially scheduled for May 16, the trial was put back until June 20 due to the absence of her defence team, a Rwandan and two Britons.
Ingabire arrived in Rwanda early last year after 17 years in exile in The Netherlands.
The country's authorities do not recognise the FDU.
Rwandan prosecutors claim to have evidence of Ingabire's alleged terrorist activities, including proof of financial transfers to the Democratic Forces for the Liberation of Rwanda (FDLR), a Hutu rebel movement based in neighbouring Democratic Republic of Congo and considered by Kigali as a terrorist group.
The FDU accuses Rwandan authorities of fabricating evidence against its leader with the sole aim of preventing her from participating in the political life of the small central African country. - Sapa-AFP
Source: http://www.iol.co.za/rwandan-opposition-demands-fair-trial-for-leader-1.1085113
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