Simbikangwa trial – 6th of february

The day begins with the testimony of Ms. Anne Soussy, medical examiner responsible for the medical examination of the accused. His report will bring little revelations about Pascal Simbikangwa. The only interesting question was whether he could use crutches to get around. Without being completely categorical, rather it suggests that it is possible for someone who has enough strength. This does not seem to be the case that Simbikangwa said he never tried. We do not know much more.

Continuing from where we had stopped the day before by the issues of defense lawyers about the resume of Simbikangwa. Will be discussed several topics: RTLM (Radio Télévision Libre Mille Collines, extremist radio MRND), the death squads, and the letter of the President of the Supreme Court to President Habyarimana to warn him of threats by Simbikangwa. The defense lawyers argue that this letter is a forgery, which the Advocate General refuses to acknowledge. For each of these topics, Pascal Simbikanwa claims that all those who testify against him are liars. When defense lawyers are out of arguments, they say they will ask their client who can only answer in the negative. ” Have you made ​​threats against Mr. Karavuganda ? ” Simbikangwa answer is “No”, of course. Finally, the question of what he thought of the spread of the “Hutu Ten Commandments ” , he answered , without flinching and without shame : ” There were ten commandments Tutsi !” This is the first time we hear of this.

Mr. Daoud then asked about the release dates of the Kangura newspaper issues. But the accused pretend to be innocent, and invoke the year 1993… (when the first issue had been published in December 1990). ” You are deliberately lying to the court” exclaims then the lawyer.

When asked what he thought of the speech in Kabaya by Léon Mugesera in November 1992, speech in which we find the such words as: “We must exterminate the scum … behead those bastards … those bastards must disappear as fast as possible, ” Pascal Simbikangwa has nothing else to say that he heard this speech, but he was not in Kabaya (while several witnesses give his name among these). ” This speech is unfortunate, I did not like, I was surprised especially coming from a clever intellectual”. Words that no one can believe. And it will be so for each of the topics discussed : training of the Interahamwe, its presence in the Ministry of Public Works to look for money to finance the MRND militia, his occupations in Mayotte, his incomes, the statement from the White House… Everything is false, invented. he alone tells the truth. All this becomes maddening and gives nausea.

The day will end with the first witness context, Guichaoua. In a monotone voice, he will make an opening statement followed by a series of questions of the president. Most notably Pascal Simbikangwa was not for the small staff which he tries to pretend that he is part of the machinery of Akazu, relatives of the family of Mrs. Habyarimana who held great powers.

Tomorrow we will continue with other witnesses context : historians and Damien Vandermersch judge, judge in the first trial of Brussels.