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Murder of Nigerian: South African court grants 8 alleged killer-cops bail

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The eight South African police officers arrested in connection with alleged brutal murder of a Nigerian in 2017 have been released on bail by that country’s Magistrate Court.

Adetola Olubajo, President of the Nigerian Union in South Africa (NUSA), confirmed the latest development to the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) on telephone from Pretoria on Monday.

Olubajo said that South Africa’s Independent Police Investigating Directorate (IPID) had indicted the eight cops for the torture and murder of Mr Badmus Olalekan Ibrahim on Oct. 10, 2017.

“The eight police officers (six men and two women) were released Monday on bail of R3,000 (about N72,000) each among other conditions by the Vanderbijlpark Magistrate Court.

“One of the bail conditions is that the released police officers should not in any way interfere with witnesses.

“The eight police officers made application for bail at the magistrate court today (Oct. 8) with three lawyers representing them,” he told NAN.

Olubajo said that IPID, an independent unit outside the South African Police Department, had opposed the bail application through the IPID Principal Investigating Officer, Mr Tulani Makagula.

Read also: Burundi head teacher gets 5-year term

He said the magistrate granted the wish of the defendants and adjourned the matter until Nov. 13 for further hearing.

“The court premises and room were filled with members of the Police and Prisons Civil Rights Union, who were in solidarity with their members indicted for torture and murder of Ibrahim.

“The police union have thrown their weight behind their accused members, pledging legal support for them.

According to unofficial sources, up to 800,000 Nigerians mostly young people reside in South Africa.

Metro

Rwandan President, Kagame sacks over 200 military personnel in major shake-up

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Rwandan President, Paul Kagame has sacked over 200 soldiers including top military brass and commanders from the Rwanda Defence Force (RDF) in a massive shake-up.

The dismissed officers include the former Commander of the Reserve Forces, Maj. Gen. Aloys Muganga, and Brig. Gen. Francis Mutiganda, a former Head of External Security in the National Intelligence Services, as well as 14 senior officers.

The announcement of the sacking of the officers which was contained in a statement released by the RDF on Wednesday, did not give reason for the sackings, but the move come a day after the president reshuffled the top echelon of the country’s military, which saw the firing of the Defence Minister and an Army Chief.

The sacking of the soldiers has further heightened tension between Rwanda and neighbouring Democratic Republic of Congo, with each side accusing the other of working with rebels to topple one another’s governments, according to reports in local media.

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UN war crimes court declares Rwandan genocide suspect, Felicien Kabuga unfit to stand trial

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An 88-year-old Rwandan genocide suspect, Felicien Kabuga has been declared unfit to stand trial by judges at a United Nations War Crimes Court in The Hague.

In a decision published by the court on Wednesday, the judges acknowledged that Kabuga was no longer able to actively participate in his trial, and rather proposed an alternative process that aims to resemble a trial but does not allow for a conviction instead of stopping the proceedings completely.

“The trial chamber finds Mr. Kabuga is no longer capable of meaningful participation in his trial,” the publication said.

“The International Residual Mechanism for Criminal Tribunals, therefore, finds that Mr. Kabuga is not fit for trial and is very unlikely to regain fitness in the future.

“It is therefore agreed to adopt an alternative finding procedure that resembles a trial as closely as possible, but without the possibility of a conviction,” it added.

Kabuga who was arrested in Paris where he had been in hiding under a false identity for several years, was one of the most wanted suspects of the Rwandan genocide, and was charged at the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda with genocide and crimes against humanity.

At his initial arraignment in September last year, the ICC heard that Kabuga was alleged to have been the main financier of the ethnic Hutu militias who slaughtered over 800,000 minority Tutsis as well as political opponents during the genocide in 1994.

According to the UN, Kabuga, a wealthy businessman from the Hutu ethnic group, had established and financed an infamous media outfit, Radio Télévision Libre des Mille Collines (RTLM), which was notorious for inciting violence and promoting the targeting and elimination of individuals from the Tutsi ethnic group who were referred to as “Cockroaches”.

Kabuga was arrested in Paris in 2020 after decades on the run and sent for trial in The Hague where he pleaded not guilty to charges of sponsoring the infamous Hutu radical radio station urging people to kill Tutsi “cockroaches”.

He also denied supplying machetes and supporting the murderous Interahamwe Hutu militia.

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