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

APPEALS CHAMBER REDUCES SENTENCES FOR THREE IN MEDIA TRIAL

Arusha, 28 November 2007 (FH) - The sentences for three Rwandan media leaders during the 1994 genocide, Ferdinand Nahimana, Jean-Bosco Barayagwiza, and Hassan Ngeze, have been reduced to 30, 32 and 35 years in prison respectively, by the appeals chamber of the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda (ICTR).

In 2003, Ngeze and Nahimana had received sentences of life imprisonment and Barayagwiza had been sentenced to 35 years in prison. Barayagwiza, who had originally received the lighter sentence due to violations of his rights, was sentenced solely for his participation in the Coalition for the Defence of the Republic (CDR), an extremist movement.

Ferdinand Nahimana and Jean-Bosco Barayagwiza were founders of Radio-Télévision Libre des Milles Collines (RTLM), infamous for its hate speech at the time of the genocide. Ngeze was the editor-in-chief of the newspaper Kangura, which launched the call against Tutsis.

The appeals chamber overturned several charges for each of them, notably those which touched on facts or written articles taking place before 1994, the tribunal's mandate being voluntarily limited to that specific calendar year.

Only Ferdinand Nahimana attended the court's decision, Hassan Ngeze having evoked reasons of health, and Barayagwiza refusing to present himself before the court.

PB/ER/SL

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