A Rwandan court on Wednesday upheld the decision that opposition leader and dissident Victoire Ingabire cannot run in the July presidential polls due to previous convictions for terrorism and genocide denial.
A strong critic of Rwanda’s long-ruling President Paul Kagame, Ingabire spent eight years in prison before being granted a presidential pardon in 2018 that shortened her 15-year sentence.
She had requested the Kigali high court to allow her to compete in the July 15 polls despite a legal prohibition on convicted candidates who have been imprisoned for six months or longer.
“The court finds that Ingabire’s request to have her conviction removed is not accepted,” a judge said, announcing the decision.
“I disagree with this ruling. It is clearly politicised. We still have a country where the courts are still not independent,” Ingabire told AFP after the court decision.
According to Rwandan law, she will be allowed to appeal the ruling only after two years.
The polls are widely anticipated to reelect Kagame for a fourth seven-year term, after he oversaw controversial constitution changes allowing him to potentially rule until 2034.
The 66-year-old has been in charge of the landlocked African nation for decades, winning presidential elections in 2003, 2010 and 2017 — with over 90 percent of the vote.
Kagame’s sole known rival in the July polls is Green Party leader Frank Habineza, who secured 0.45 percent of the vote in 2017. All other legally registered opposition parties support the ruling Rwandan Patriotic Front.
Ingabire’s Dalfa Umurunzi (Development And Liberty For All) movement is not officially registered in Rwanda.
An ethnic Hutu, Ingabire, 55, was accused of “divisionism” after publicly questioning the government narrative of the 1994 genocide targeting the Tutsi minority that killed around 800,000 people.
Kagame has been commended for bringing stability to the African nation but his government’s poor human rights record has drawn criticism.
– ‘Urgent need for reform’ –
In a statement published on social media after Wednesday’s verdict, Ingabire said the ruling “is not merely a personal setback but is emblematic of the broader issues facing our nation”.
“Today’s decision is a stark reminder of the barriers to political participation and the urgent need for reform in our country’s governance.”
Ingabire regularly accuses the Rwandan leader of suppressing dissent and ignoring the poor.
Following her 2018 release from jail, she had told reporters she was freed because of international pressure on Rwanda’s government, prompting a warning from Kagame: “Do not be shocked if you go back to prison.”
Several opposition politicians have vanished or been killed in mysterious circumstances over the last few years.
A member of Ingabire’s former party FDU-Inkingi was stabbed near the capital Kigali in September 2019, six months after the party’s spokesman Anselm Mutuyimana was kidnapped and his body later found in a forest.
Based in The Netherlands since 1994, Ingabire returned to Rwanda in 2010, intending to run for president as FDU-Inkingi’s leader.
However, she got arrested after advocating for the prosecution and punishment of those responsible for crimes against the Hutu majority as well.
AFP
