Ex-mayor freed in Tribunal's first acquittal

The Appeals Chamber of the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda upheld on Wednesday a lower court's ruling acquitting Ignace Bagilishema of genocide crimes committed in 1994, the tribunal said.

This was the court's first acquittal since its inception in 1995. The president of the Appeal's Chamber, Judge Claude Jorda, announced Bagilishema's acquittal at the tribunal's Arusha headquarters in northern Tanzania. Jorda said the chamber's five judges had unanimously rejected all the arguments submitted by the prosecutor, and ordered Bagilishema's immediate release.

Bagilishema's lead counsel, Francois Roux, welcomed the decision and called for the lifting of court restrictions placed on his client in 2001. Under these, he must name two people of good repute who guaranteed he would return to Arusha whenever the tribunal demands. Bagilishema had to give his home address in France and provide the nearest police station of any change of address. He cannot leave France without the tribunal's consent and must surrender his travel documents to the French police, unless the tribunal decides otherwise. He is also required to report once a month to the police nearest his home.

A lower court at the tribunal had acquitted Bagilishema on 7 June 2001 of seven charges of genocide and crimes against humanity. The prosecution had alleged that Bagilishema was guilty of the deaths of thousands of Tutsi refugees at the Gatwaro soccer stadium in Mabaza commune, Kibuye Prefecture, of which he was mayor.