Life wanted for Rwanda singer
2008-05-26 21:05
Arusha - Prosecutors on Monday demanded life imprisonment for Rwandan singing star Simon Bikindi, accused of inciting mass murder through song during Rwanda's 1994 genocide.
Bikindi, a 54-year-old member of the Hutu ethnic group and a singing star in Rwanda, is on trial before the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda (ICTR) at Arusha, Tanzania.
He has pleaded not guilty to six counts of genocide and related charges including complicity in genocide, direct and public incitement to commit genocide, murder and persecution.
Prosecutor William Egbe said: "No sentence other than life imprisonment would reflect the gravity of the crimes of which the defendant stands accused.
"Bikindi is guilty beyond doubt. The only reasonable verdict is a guilty one.
"Bikindi's songs incited genocide."
He had been famous, powerful, and a major force mobilising the Hutu ethnic group against their rivals the Tutsi minority, said Egbe.
The singer had also had close links with the Rwandan president Juvenal Habyarimana.
Defence attorney Andrea O'Shea described the prosecution evidence as a "mockery of international justice", full of contradictions in statements by prosecution witnesses.
Bikindi was allowed to address the court, saying: "I have no doubt that the judges are aware they have an innocent man before them."
The prosecution case is that three Bikindi songs contained calls to Hutu unity in order to get rid of the Tutsis.
Prosecution witnesses said his songs contained lyrics that urged Hutus to kill Tutsis as well as other Hutus who sympathised with them.
Bikindi insists he sang only on behalf of peace and democracy in the incriminated songs.
A renowned traditional composer who founded the popular Irindiro Ballet, he was arrested in the Netherlands in 2001 and his trial opened in September 2006.
- AFP