Defendant in Rwanda genocide case had trouble remembering days before massacre

First day on witness stand

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A Rwandan man, currently on trial in Porvoo on charges of mass killing, says that he does not remember exactly what he was doing on the days before the genocide in Rwanda 15 years ago.
      The 58-year-old defendant testified at his trial before Porvoo District Court on Thursday.
      The testimony was the first time that the defendant himself had spoken in court. He spoke politely, and had an externally calm demeanour. However, his defence lawyer Ingrid Heickell said that the situation is very stressful for the man.
      The man said that he is a Hutu, but that a close friend of his, with whom he is like a family member, is a Tutsi.
      “I have never had any kind of problems with any Tutsis”, he said.
     
The defendant had trouble remembering his work at a refugee camp on behalf of the local Baptist church. He said that he was a coordinator at the camp, taking care of the storage area.
      The defendant said that he had worked at the camp in 1994 during the day from Mondays through Fridays. He said that his last day working there had been a Friday before April 6th, 1994 when a plane carrying Rwandan President Juvenal Habyarimana crashed, killing the President. The death of the Hutu leader is seen to have sparked the genocide, which mainly targeted the Tutsis.
      The man said that he had stayed at home because a curfew was declared after the death of the President.
      The prosecutor noted that the sixth of April was a Wednesday, and wondered why the defendant had not gone to work normally on the previous day.
      The defendant was unable to give an answer. “I believe that there are others in this courtroom who cannot remember things that happened 15 years ago, a couple of days before some event.”
     
At the beginning of Thursday’s session, the defendant addressed the court, saying that he has some “very great concerns”.
      He said that he was worried that the court might believe “the lies that have been written into the indictment”. He said that there are people named as witnesses whom Rwandan officials have promised to free if they give false testimony against him.
     
The first day of the defendant’s testimony did not deal with the events of the genocide period. He has previously vehemently denied any involvement in the events.
      The testimony is slow, because everything needs to be interpreted twice. One interpreter translates the defendant’s testimony into French, and another interpreter translates the French translation into Finnish. Possible inaccuracies in the translation can be examined later, as the proceedings are all being recorded.


Previously in HS International Edition:
  Defence in Rwanda genocide case: defendant understood events late (2.9.2009)
  Genocide trial opens: defence motion to disqualify judge denied (1.9.2009)
  Porvoo court to travel to Rwanda to hear testimony (8.6.2009)

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