Acts of extremism by Father Emmanuel Rukundo, a Catholic priest being tried for genocide before the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda (ICTR) here, were said to be what fuelled the 1994 Rwanda genocide.According to the prosecution witness who is a Tutsi priest, Father Rukundo, a Hutu, organized a demonstration to celebrate the death of the Rwandan rebel chief Fred Rwigema.
Rwigema was the commander in chief of the Rwandan Patriotic Front (RPF) which attacked Rwanda in October 1990 from neighboring Uganda. He was killed in the first few days of the attack.
According to the Hirondelle News Agency, Rukundo's lawyer, Aicha Conde disputed the claims, adding that, "this march was organized in support of the army throughout the country."
As with others who testified, the protected witness described a seminary faced with ethnic tensions which were inflamed by the war.
Father Rukundo was also accused of organizing a fundraiser, designed for the "war effort."
Father Rukundo, who was ordained a priest in July 1991, is the second priest tried by the ICTR.
On Dec. 13, Father Athanase Seromba, who served in Nyange Parish in Kibuye in western Rwanda, was found guilty of genocide and extermination as a crime against humanity Dec. 13 and sentenced to 15 years in prison.
A third priest, Father Hormisdas Nsengimana, the rector of the College of Christ the King in Nyanza, is still awaiting trial.
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