Rwandan Opposition Leader Victoire Ingabire Jailed
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News,Africa
Victoire Ingabire was arrested months after returning from exile
News,Africa
Rwandan opposition leader
Victoire Ingabire has been found guilty at her treason trial and sentenced to
eight years in jail.
The
prosecution had requested a life sentence for the charges of threatening state
security.
The
court also found her guilty of "belittling" Rwanda's 1994 genocide.
Ingabire
was not in court to hear the verdict as she has been boycotting the trial,
saying it is politically motivated.
The Unified Democratic Forces
leader was arrested in April 2010 and was Rwandan opposition
leader Victoire Ingabire has been found guilty at her treason trial and
sentenced to eight years in jail.
The
prosecution had requested a life sentence for the charges of threatening state
security.
The
court also found her guilty of "belittling" Rwanda's 1994 genocide.
Ingabire
was not in court to hear the verdict as she has been boycotting the trial,
saying it is politically motivated.
The
Unified Democratic Forces leader was arrested in April 2010 and was barred from
standing in elections later that year.
The
BBC's Prudent Nsengiyumva in the capital, Kigali, says her lawyer, the deputy
UDF leader and a number of her supporters were in court.
They
were stunned by the verdict, expecting her to receive a life sentence, our
reporter says.
She had
also faced terrorism charges, but these were dropped during the two-year trial.
The UDF
has 30 days to appeal against the verdict.
Ingabire,
a Hutu, returned from exile in the Netherlands in January 2010 - and has been
in jail since her arrest.
She has
questioned why Rwanda's official memorial to the 1994 genocide does not include
any Hutus.
Most of
the 800,000 people killed were ethnic Tutsis but Hutu moderates were also
slaughtered by the Hutu extremists.
barred from standing in elections later that year.
The
BBC's Prudent Nsengiyumva in the capital, Kigali, says her lawyer, the deputy
UDF leader and a number of her supporters were in court.
They
were stunned by the verdict, expecting her to receive a life sentence, our
reporter says.
She had
also faced terrorism charges, but these were dropped during the two-year trial.
The UDF
has 30 days to appeal against the verdict.
Ingabire,
a Hutu, returned from exile in the Netherlands in January 2010 - and has been
in jail since her arrest.
She has
questioned why Rwanda's official memorial to the 1994 genocide does not include
any Hutus.
Most of
the 800,000 people killed were ethnic Tutsis but Hutu moderates were also
slaughtered by the Hutu extremists.
Source:BBC
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