Genocide trial opens: defence motion to disqualify judge denied

Lawyer says HS interview revealed bias

print this

The trial of a Rwandan-born resident of Porvoo on charges of taking part in the 1994 genocide in the country began in Porvoo District Court on Tuesday.
      At the beginning of the session, the defendant’s lawyer Ville Hoikkala put forward a motion calling for the disqualification of the trial judge, Lars Karlsson.
      Hoikkala said that comments made by Karlsson to Helsingin Sanomat and the Swedish language newspaper Hufvudstadsbladet revealed a bias against the defence.
      In the interviews, Karlsson had voiced the opinion that the defendant could have received a fair trial in Rwanda.
     
The defence maintains that statements by Rwandan witnesses in the case have been extracted through torture.
      “An extradition could have happened, considering that even Sweden has felt that it is possible”, Karlsson said to Helsingin Sanomat.
      In July Sweden became the first European country to extradite a suspect in a genocide case. However, the European Court of Human rights has ordered a postponement of the extradition.
      The Finnish Ministry of Justice gave a negative response to a Rwandan request for extradition. The ministry suspected that the defendant would not get a fair trial in the country.
     
Judge Karlsson feels that the defendant would certainly have had a fair trial in Rwanda as well, and that Finland would have sent an observer to monitor the trial to make sure that it was fair.
      “Since the task was given, we will try to take care of it to the best of our ability”, Karlsson said. He emphasised that he was not taking a stand on the defendant’s guilt or innocence.
     
At Tuesday’s opening of the trial Lawyer Hoikkala requested that the court investigate whether or not the main judge should be removed from the case, because he had publicly taken a stand on how the evidence against the defendant had been acquired.
      The two other judges on the court decided after short deliberation, that Karlsson did not need to be disqualified from hearing the case, and the trial proceeded normally.
      If the head judge had been removed, the schedule of the whole trial would have been changed completely.
      In the opening session, the defendant denied all charges against him.
     
This week and next, the trial in Porvoo will involve the reading of the indictment, hearing the response of the defendant, and hearing testimony from expert witnesses for the defence.
      Later, the court, the prosecutor, and the defence counsel will take the unusual step of travelling to Rwanda to hear testimony from 35 prosecution witnesses, and will visit the locations where the events allegedly took place. The court expects to spend about a month in Rwanda.
      Later, the court will hear testimony from 25 defence witnesses. Ten of the witnesses are in neighbouring Burundi.
      An initiative to travel to Burundi in addition to Rwanda came from the defence. However, as of Tuesday, officials in Burundi had not yet given the go-ahead for such a visit.
     
Trials linked with the Rwandan genocide have taken place in at least Belgium, Canada, and Switzerland, and a Canadian court spent five weeks in Rwanda in January 2007 to hear testimony in one of the genocide cases.
     
The defendant has refused to accompany to the court in Rwanda. Instead, he will follow the court hearings by video link at Vantaa Prison.


Previously in HS International Edition:
  Rwandan man accused of genocide says he tried to save Tutsis (17.6.2009)
  Porvoo court to travel to Rwanda to hear testimony (8.6.2009)
  Finland will not extradite suspected war criminal to Rwanda (20.2.2009)
  Prosecutor denies witness statements against Rwandan man acquired by torture (2.6.2009)

Helsingin Sanomat