A military prosecutor in Kigali on Thursday presented before a court 25 alleged members of the Rwanda National Congress, including former army officers, accused of treason while operating from Uganda and Burundi.
The suspects were charged on four counts including belonging to an illegal armed outfit, treason, forming an illegal army, and plotting with foreign countries to destabilize Rwanda.
One prominent suspect is Habib Madhatiru, 53, a former Rwandan army officer who was captured in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) while allegedly preparing to attack Rwanda.
Allegations against the renegade senior officer of the Rwandan army include being in charge of training recruits on behalf of the RNC.
The Rwandan military prosecution said all the suspects were captured during a military offensive by the Congolese armed forces as part of ongoing operations against the armed group and other subversive elements.
During the pre-trial hearing, prosecution said that all the suspects were facilitated mainly by Uganda and Burundi to join the ‘P5’ outfit whose activities are detailed in a report by the UN Group of Experts published in December last year.
P5 is is a coalition of Rwandan “opposition political organisations”, including the Amahoro People’s Congress (AMAHORO-PC), the Forces démocratiques unifées-Inkingi (FDU INKINGI), the People’s Defence Pact-Imanzi (PDP-IMANZI), the Social Party-Imberakuri (PS IMBERAKURI) and the Rwanda National Congress (RNC).
Led by South Africa-based fugitive Kayumba Nyamwasa, RNC is an organisation branded as a “terrorist group’ which was blamed for a spate of grenade attacks in Rwanda between 2010 and 2014 that killed at least 17 people and injured over 400 others.
The presence of Kayumba Nyamwasa in South Africa has been at the heart of troubled relations between Pretoria and Kigali with the latter keen on his extradition to Rwanda.
CU/as/APA