Rwandan court sets date for case against terror suspects

A case hearing at Rwanda's Supreme Court. The High Court has set February 15, 2017 date for hearing case against dozens of suspects accused of radicalising youth and having links to terrorist groups. PHOTO | FILE 

By RWANDA TODAY TEAM

In Summary

• Defence lawyers in the case said the High Court has set the long-awaited trial for February 15.
• According to sources, suspects are about 40.
• Among the detained suspects are minors, who according to the law can only be tried by a specialised chamber for minors in the Intermediate Court.

After months of delay, the case against dozens of suspects accused of radicalising youth and having links to terrorist groups is set for hearing in mid-February.

Defence lawyers in the case said the High Court has set the long-awaited trial for February 15.

“The High Court has notified my client of the set date,” said one of the lawyers in the case who did not want to be named.

This is the first time a Rwandan court will hear a case involving a large group of suspects for terrorism-related offences and most importantly “terrorism for religious ideological purposes.”

The prosecution will present their evidence and shed more light on the circumstances surrounding the arrest of these suspects, which dominated news last year.

According to sources, the file has grown with time and now has about 40 suspects. As shown in the pre-trial detention verdict, they are charged with complicity in a terrorist act; membership in a terrorist organisation; formation of a criminal gang; formation of an irregular armed group and conspiracy and incitement to commit terrorism, among others.

Sources familiar with the dossier said that some of the suspects are accused of translating materials such as books that, according to the prosecution, were meant to be used in radicalising Rwandan youth, while others are accused of organising and attending meetings inciting people to join terrorist groups such as ISIS and al-Shabaab.

The prosecution also alleges that some of the suspects had started conducting military trainings outside Rwanda and had initiated the process of obtaining legal documents to travel to countries, such as Syria and Somalia, where they could participate in terror activities. Some of the suspects were arrested on their way to these countries.

The suspects have officially been detained since March 2016, but on their first appearance before a pre-trial judge, some claimed that they were detained much earlier.

The prosecution has been asking for a delayed trial date for almost a year, saying they needed more time to gather evidence while also citing the complexity of the file.

Controversy

The police linked the first group of suspects arrested in February 2016 to the controversial clerk Mohammed Mugemangango, who was gunned down by security officials in the beginning of 2016. A statement from the police showed he was suspected of recruiting young Rwandans to join terrorist groups such as ISIS.

READ: Rwandan police kill terror suspect during flee attempt

Since their arrests, they were kept out of the public eye and all their pre-trial detention hearings were held in camera.

Among the detained suspects are minors, who according to the law can only be tried by a specialised chamber for minors in the Intermediate Court.

Rwandan criminal procedure experts say this might mean that the dossier will be divided in order for the minors to appear at a specialised chamber trial.