A court in Rwanda has deemed opposition leader and dissident Victoire Ingabire unqualified to participate in the upcoming July presidential election due to prior convictions related to terrorism and denial of genocide.
Ingabire, a vocal opponent of Rwanda’s president, Paul Kagame, served 8 years in jail before being granted clemency by the president in 2018, reducing her original 15-year sentence.
The individual requested permission from the Kigali high court to run in the July 15th election, despite a legal restriction on candidates with past convictions resulting in a prison sentence of six months or more.
The judge announced that the court does not approve of Ingabire’s plea to have her conviction overturned.
I do not agree with this decision. It is clearly influenced by politics. Our country still has courts that are not completely impartial,” Ingabire stated following the ruling.
In accordance with the laws of Rwanda, she will have the opportunity to challenge the decision after a period of two years.
It is anticipated that the upcoming election will result in Kagame being elected for his fourth seven-year term. This follows his implementation of contentious constitutional changes that could potentially extend his rule until 2034.
For many years, the 66-year-old has been leading the landlocked African nation, winning presidential elections with an overwhelming majority of over 90% in 2003, 2010, and 2017.
Kagame’s only known challenger in the July election is the Green party leader, Frank Habineza, who secured 0.45% of the vote in 2017. All other legally registered opposition parties back the ruling Rwandan Patriotic Front.
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Ingabire, a 55-year-old Hutu, faced allegations of promoting discord after publicly challenging the official account of the 1994 genocide that specifically targeted the Tutsi minority and resulted in the deaths of approximately 800,000 individuals.
Kagame has received acclaim for achieving stability in the African nation, but his government’s abysmal record on human rights has sparked criticism.
After the verdict was announced on Wednesday, Ingabire released a statement on social media stating that it was not just a defeat for her personally, but also reflected the larger issues affecting our country.
Today’s ruling serves as a clear indication of the obstacles that hinder political involvement and the pressing demand for reform in the governing system of our nation.
Ingabire often makes allegations that the leader of Rwanda is suppressing opposing views and disregarding the needs of the impoverished.
After being released from jail in 2018, she informed journalists that she was let go due to the pressure from other countries on the government of Rwanda. This caused Kagame to issue a cautionary statement: “Do not be surprised if you end up back in prison.”
Over the past few years, many opposition politicians have either disappeared or been killed under mysterious circumstances.
In September 2019, a member of FDU-Inkingi, the party previously led by Ingabire, was attacked with a knife close to Kigali. This incident occurred six months after Anselm Mutuyimana, the party’s spokesperson, was abducted and his remains were discovered in a wooded area.
In 2010, after residing in the Netherlands for 16 years, Ingabire went back to Rwanda with plans to participate in the presidential race as the leader of FDU-Inkingi.
However, she was apprehended following her call to also seek and penalize those responsible for the mistreatment of the Hutu community.
Source: theguardian.com
