TWO Rwandan Hutu rebel leaders went on trial yesterday accused of masterminding from their homes in Germany atrocities in the eastern Democratic Republic of Congo in 2008 and 2009.
Ignace Murwanashyaka, 47, head of the Democratic Forces for the Liberation of Rwanda (FDLR), and his deputy Straton Musoni, 50, allegedly ordered mass killings and rapes in DRC.
The professorial Murwanashyaka and Musoni are facing 26 counts of crimes against humanity and 39 counts of war crimes committed by militias under their command between January 2008 and their arrest in Germany in November 2009.
They face life in prison if convicted. Minutes after the trial began before a special court in the southwestern city of Stuttgart, the presiding judge called a temporary adjournment to consider a defence motion contesting the composition of the prosecution team.
"We have reason to doubt the neutrality of federal prosecutors," said Ricarda Lang, a defence attorney for Murwanashyaka.
The UN has hailed the trial as a breakthrough after repeated calls by the Security Council to bring FDLR commanders living abroad to justice. A resident of Germany for more than two decades, Murwanashyaka is accused of waging war in DRC from his sitting room in the southwestern German city of Mannheim, 6000km away, via telephone calls to his generals. Musoni, his right-hand man since 2004, moved to Germany in 1986 to study.
Prosecutors say he ordered 200 killings and large numbers of rapes by his militias, had them use civilians as human shields and sent child soldiers into battle in eastern DRC.
A UN report counted 240 telephone calls between Murwananshyaka and his officers in 2008/09.
A protegé of late former DRC president Laurent-Desire Kabila, the bespectacled Murwananshyaka also paid occasional visits to his troops in the country, according to the UN.
Rwandans on trial in Germany for DRC atrocities
TWO Rwandan Hutu rebel leaders went on trial yesterday accused of masterminding from their homes in Germany atrocities in the eastern Democratic Republic of Congo in 2008 and 2009.
Ignace Murwanashyaka, 47, head of the Democratic Forces for the Liberation of Rwanda (FDLR), and his deputy Straton Musoni, 50, allegedly ordered mass killings and rapes in DRC.
The professorial Murwanashyaka and Musoni are facing 26 counts of crimes against humanity and 39 counts of war crimes committed by militias under their command between January 2008 and their arrest in Germany in November 2009.
They face life in prison if convicted. Minutes after the trial began before a special court in the southwestern city of Stuttgart, the presiding judge called a temporary adjournment to consider a defence motion contesting the composition of the prosecution team.
"We have reason to doubt the neutrality of federal prosecutors," said Ricarda Lang, a defence attorney for Murwanashyaka.
The UN has hailed the trial as a breakthrough after repeated calls by the Security Council to bring FDLR commanders living abroad to justice. A resident of Germany for more than two decades, Murwanashyaka is accused of waging war in DRC from his sitting room in the southwestern German city of Mannheim, 6000km away, via telephone calls to his generals. Musoni, his right-hand man since 2004, moved to Germany in 1986 to study.
Prosecutors say he ordered 200 killings and large numbers of rapes by his militias, had them use civilians as human shields and sent child soldiers into battle in eastern DRC.
A UN report counted 240 telephone calls between Murwananshyaka and his officers in 2008/09.
A protegé of late former DRC president Laurent-Desire Kabila, the bespectacled Murwananshyaka also paid occasional visits to his troops in the country, according to the UN.
Would you like to comment on this article?
Register (it's quick and free) or sign in now.
Please read our Comment Policy before commenting.
Trending
Latest Videos