Prosecution Appeals Against Aimable Karasira’s Sentence

By The Inspirer.

The Rwandan Prosecution has filed an appeal against the verdict issued by the Special Chamber for International and Cross-Border Crimes based in Nyanza, which sentenced Aimable Karasira Uzaramba, widely known as Prof. Nigga, to five years in prison.

Karasira, a former lecturer at the University of Rwanda and a popular musician and social media personality, particularly on YouTube, had been charged with several offenses — including genocide denial, justifying the 1994 Genocide against the Tutsi, inciting divisionism, stirring public unrest, failure to explain the origin of his wealth, and money laundering.

The Nyanza-based court, however, found him guilty of only one count — incitement to divisionism.

According to reliable sources cited by Umuseke, the Prosecution was dissatisfied with this ruling and has therefore appealed to the Court of Appeal in Kigali.

Karasira, who has been under prosecution since 2021, has nearly completed his five-year sentence, meaning that by the time the appeal is heard, he could be defending himself as a free man if the original sentence is considered served.

His first trial was marked by unusual behavior, including rebuking judges, walking out of court, and at times appearing with a Bible during hearings. He attributed some of these actions to mental health issues, though the Prosecution disputed those claims. In later sessions, however, Karasira appeared more composed and focused his defense on addressing the charges directly.

During the initial proceedings, the Prosecution had requested a 30-year prison sentence, arguing that he should be convicted on all counts.

The court instead imposed a five-year term, deducting the time he had already spent in detention. It also ordered the release of his seized assets, except those still under investigation, and allowed his lawyers to access funds from his frozen accounts to cover legal fees.

Karasira remains detained at Nyarugenge Prison, and he was represented by Me Bruce Bikotwa and Me Félicien Gashema throughout the trial.

Following the verdict, Me Bikotwa told Umuseke that from their side, “we consider this a victory against the Prosecution.”