OTTAWA — Jacques Mungwarere smiled and lifted his hands in a prayer motion inside an Ottawa courtroom Friday after a judge ruled the allegations he organized and executed brutal attacks in his native Rwanda against the ethnic minority nearly two decades ago were based on “a fabrication of evidence.” Ontario Superior Court Justice Michel Charbonneau sifted through a mountain of evidence heard over the course of a 26-week trial before deciding to acquit Mungwarere of genocide and crimes against humanity. “You are free,” Charbonneau told him. Mungwarere was arrested in November 2009 in Windsor, Ont., where he settled as a refugee after the genocide. He is “acutely aware” that he’s been locked up for three years and eight months, his lawyer said after the decision. “He practically told us down to the hour,” Marc Nerenberg said. Mungwarere was a 22-year-old teacher working in the Kibuye prefecture of the small east African country when the deliberate and systematic killing of the Tutsis began in April 1994. About 800,000 Tutsis and moderate Hutus were hunted down and viciously killed over the course of 100 days. In the years that followed, more than 120,000 people were jailed over accusations of genocide. But accusations against Mungwarere were limited to stealing cows, Nerenberg said, until the RCMP received a tip in 2003 that launched a six-year investigation. More witnesses came forward claiming that Mungwarere planned attacks, distributed guns and shot a child dead. “You have witnesses saying, ‘I saw the accused on the neighbouring hill shooting at us. He was wearing a military uniform.’ And then you have the RCMP saying, ‘It’s impossible to see someone’s face from that distance,’” Nerenberg said. Charbonneau ruled that most of the more than 40 witnesses who testified were not credible, including Mungwarere himself. Mungwarere testified that he did not know of a planned attack on a hospital complex where Tutsis were hiding out in Kibuye prefecture. On the eve of the April 16, 1994 attack, he said there were more people than usual at his family home but he didn’t realize they were taking refuge. “I do not believe him,” Charbonneau said. Charbonneau also found that some witnesses “exaggerated” while others made “false allegations” against Mungwarere. The ones he found credible could only place Mungwarere in the presence of other genocidaire but not actually at the hospital complex or at subsequent countryside attacks. Recounting horrific memories was a challenge for witnesses, who sometimes struggled to separate what they saw themselves from second-hand accounts that have been the “subject of much conversation” over the past two decades, Charbonneau said. Nerenberg said the case was “fraught with difficulties.” Three witnesses, originally part of the Crown’s case, testified instead for the defence and recanted allegations against Mungwarere. “They came and testified that they had conspired, lied and described the method by which they fabricated the evidence,” Nerenberg said. Prosecutor Luc Boucher hinted there could be an appeal. “We have 30 days to decide what we want to do,” he said. After the decision, Mungwarere quietly slipped out of the courtroom. His lawyer said he did not wish to speak to the media. What Mungwarere plans to do now that he is free is a mystery but his future in the country is uncertain as his testimony contradicted what he told immigration officers. “At the moment, he has refugee status. We’ll have to see what Canada does on that,” Nerenberg said.
Posted on: Sat, 06 Jul 2013 03:56:57 +0000
Trending Topics
Recently Viewed Topics
© 2015