KIGALI –The first high profile female genocide suspect, deported to Rwanda from the United States, briefly appeared in court on Wednesday. Beatrice Munyenyezi faces seven charges relating to the 1994 genocide in Rwanda.
Her Defence lawyer Gatera Gashabana requested for an adjournment of the hearing so his client can ‘learn the content of the file.’ Consequently, the case was adjourned to May 5, 2021.
“I didn’t have enough time to prepare the case because it was not possible to see the client. It was only yesterday (Tuesday) evening that we were given only 20 minutes and we didn’t have the file.
“The client has the right to know the content of the file, that is why I request for an adjournment in order to let her have the competence to prepare her defense,” Gashabana prayed to court.
Rwanda’s Investigation bureau assert that Munyenyezi is suspected of murder as a genocide crime, conspiracy to commit genocide among others.
Other charges are planning of the genocide, complicity in genocide, incitement to commit genocide, extermination, and complicity in rape.
The suspect had earlier during her trial in the US denied any involvement in the 1994 genocide, which claimed an estimated 800, 000 people.
Munyenezi was deported from the States mid-April. A local newspaper, The New Times reported that the suspect had served a 10-year jail term for fraudulently acquiring U.S citizenship; entering the United States and securing citizenship by lying about her role in the genocide against the Tutsi.
She was recently released from prison after completing her sentence, and then deported.
It is said that at the height of the infamous genocide, in the now Huye District, Munyenyezi would, at checkpoints, search and identify victims.
The suspect is the wife of Arsene Ntahobali, who, together with his mother Pauline Nyiramasuhuko, were sentenced to life in prison by the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda for their role in the Genocide against the Tutsi.
