Rusesabagina’s manner of arrest not mentioned in court’s jurisdiction issue

“The Chamber does not find it relevant to talk about how he was arrested or detained.” The court said today, throwing uncertainty on future arguments of Rusesabagina’s alleged illegal rendition which was a hot debate in the previous hearing of 17 February 2021 and also in the international reportage of the case.

Authorities in Kigali have always boasted before the western media about Rusesabagina’s miraculous appearance in Rwanda and the subsequent dragging into the courts of law as “flawless” and “one of the best operations that any country can ever conduct”

Paul Rusesabagina argued before the Rwanda Court that he was illegally in Rwanda by rendition techniques of kidnapping inserting that he was forcibly being tried into a Kigali courtroom.

It should be noted that if found that he was illegally arrested, it can shield him from being tried in Rwanda especially in the context of international understanding of the administration of justice.

Rusesabagina lawyer Gatera Gashabana had based his argument against the court jurisdiction on his client as being a Belgian who was illegally brought to Rwanda.

The prosecution argued that he was Rwandan by origin and that local laws allow prosecuting non-nationals who commit crimes on Rwanda soil in.

The court stressed that “laws mandate Rwanda’s High Court chamber of international crimes to try all people who commit cross-border crimes in Rwanda and that crimes committed on Rwandan soil by Rwandans or non-nationals are also prosecuted by Rwandan courts”

Meanwhile, lawyer Gashabana announced an appeal against the court’s decision of having jurisdiction to try his client which means that he will proceed to the Court of Appeal.

“Let the court clerk enter that Rusesabagina has appealed the courts’ decision on the jurisdiction to try him” Gashabana said right after the court delivered the decision.

Gashabana also defied the court’s previous set procedures that required all litigants to submit all objections at once, inserting another objection that attracted vigorous contentions between him and the prosecution.

“We have another objection but we could not submit it before the court delivered a decision on the first objection. We are pleading to this court to give us some time to prepare and submit it” Gashabana argued.

Gashabana who sounded shrewd and with something bigger to submit before the court said that all the previous submissions were basically on the challenges his client met in the litigation process.

The Court ordered Rusesabagina to submit the new objection by Tuesday 2 March 2021 while the hearing on the new objection was scheduled for Friday 5 March 2021.

Source: Kigali Law Tidings