Former mayor pleads “not guilty”

Rwanda’s former mayor of Kibungo prefecture, eastern Rwanda, Jean Mpambara, on Wednesday pleaded “not guilty” to a genocide charge at the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda (ICTR), the Arusha-based Internews service reported. Mpambara was arrested on 20 June at Mukungwa refugee camp in northern Tanzania at the request of the chief prosecutor, Carla del Ponte. Mpambara’s indictment states that he was responsible for killing or causing serious bodily or mental harm to members of the Tutsi population with intent to destroy them, Internews said.

He is also alleged to have prepared a hate campaign against the Tutsis in his commune. The preparation included stating anti-Tutsi propaganda and recruiting, training and arming Interahamwe militia. Mpambara is accused of distributing arms to civilians for purposes of attacks against the members of the Tutsi community. “Execution of the campaign entailed disarming the Tutsi and disabling resistance to the attacks and strategically directing armed attacks against large groups of Tutsi population,” the indictment says.