FONDATION HIRONDELLE - HIRONDELLE NEWS AGENCY IN ARUSHA INTERNATIONAL CRIMINAL TRIBUNAL FOR RWANDA ____________________________________________________________ ICTR/RUGAMBARARA

ELEVEN YEARS IN PRISON FOR A FORMER RWANDAN MAYOR TRIED BY THE ICTR

Arusha, 16 November 2007 (FH) - Juvénal Rugambarara, 58, former mayor of Bicumbi, was sentenced Friday to 11 years in prison by the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda (ICTR).

Arrested in August 2003, he admitted in June his guilt after negotiations with the prosecutor. On the 9 counts of the indictment against him, only remained the crime of extermination for not having taken necessary measures in order to punish his subordinates implicated in massacres of Tutsis.

The former mayor, who is defended by Maroufa Diabira (Mauritania), was a medical assistant in Bicumbi. During his trial, brief because of his guilty plea, several people had come to affirm that he had assisted Tutsi refugees. The chamber presided by Sri Lankian Judge Joseph Asoka de Silva considered that his regrets were "sincere".

It is the eighth defendant to admit his guilt before the ICTR. The last judgment to be delivered at the ICTR was also that of a defendant who had pleaded guilty. Joseph Nzabirinda was, on 23 February, sentenced to 7 years in prison.

Since its creation, the tribunal has delivered 34 judgments, including 5 acquittals. It indicted 90 persons, 14 are still at large.

PB/ER/MM

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