Finnish genocide trial in Rwanda interrupted twice by technical difficulties

Defendant in Vantaa says Rwandan government gives witnesses incentive to lie

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A Finnish court holding sessions in the Rwandan capital Kigali had to stop proceedings at least twice on Tuesday because of technical problems. The Porvoo District Court has travelled to Rwanda to hear testimony from witnesses in the trial of Francois Bazaramba, a Rwandan-born Finnish resident suspected of involvement in the country’s 1994 genocide.
      Problems arose with the video link with which the defendant himself is watching the proceedings in a Finnish prison in Vantaa, along with one member of his legal team.
     
Overruling defence objections, the judge in the case allowed the session to proceed.
      “The norms of human rights are met by the fact that the defendant has two lawyers in Kigali and one in Vantaa”, said Prosecutor General Raija Toiviainen to the court.
      Defence lawyer Ville Hoikkala opposed this, but said that the defence is willing to negotiate a workable solution.
     
Taking the witness stand was an illiterate man who had lived in the defendant’s home village. “Mwicare”, said Judge Lars Karlsson to the Rwandan man.
      In spite of Karlsson’s stumbling pronunciation of the local language, the man followed the instruction to sit down.
      In his testimony, he told the court that the defendant ordered people to kill Tutsis, and the people complied.
     
The witness said that he had killed one woman himself, for which he was given an 11-year prison sentence by a local court. As he had spent many years in prison before the trial, the court changed the rest of his sentence to four months of community service of sorts.
      In cross-examination by the defence, the witness said that the trial in the local court came soon after Finnish police had interrogated him. The defence has maintained that witnesses have agreed to speak against the defendant in return for freedom.
      The court is scheduled to hear about 50 witnesses - two each day. The testimony is time-consuming because of the need for interpretation.
     
Francois Bazaramba followed the proceedings via video link in Vantaa jail. The testimony is interpreted twice, from the local Rwandan language into French, and from French to Finnish.
      When the first witness took the stand, the sound did not reach the room in Finland at first, but the volume was improved after a few requests.
      Bazaramba saw the witness on one video screen, and his own face on another. His image was also relayed to Kigali. Bazaramba listened to the testimony calmly, making occasional notes.
      According to the testimony, the defendant had held a meeting in the witness's home village, in which he called on the Hutus present to kill Tutsis. The witness said that the defendant had given people money to buy matches to help them set houses on fire.
     
Lawyer Ingrid Heickell, who represents the defendant in Vantaa said during a break in the proceedings, that she did not feel that the witness was credible.
      Heickell said that the defence suspects that the witness was released from prison in Rwanda in return for testifying against the defendant. According to the testimony, the witness had been held in prison since 2000, and was released a year ago.
     
The defendant answered journalists’ questions during the break and said that he believes that he is getting a fair trial. However, he feels that getting at the truth is difficult, because in his view the Rwandan government is giving witnesses an incentive to lie.
      The defendant said that it has been hard to wait imprisoned for two years for the trial to begin. He said that it was especially difficult for his wife and son, who live in Porvoo.


Previously in HS International Edition:
  Defendant in Rwanda genocide case had trouble remembering days before massacre (4.9.2009)
  Defence in Rwanda genocide case: defendant understood events late (2.9.2009)
  Porvoo court to travel to Rwanda to hear testimony (8.6.2009)
  Finnish police set up courtroom in Rwanda for genocide trial (14.9.2009)
  Police suspect Rwandan-born Porvoo resident took part in 1994 genocide (5.2.2009)
  COMMENTARY: Rwanda genocide case tests international reach of Finnish law (12.4.2007)

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