A Rwandan journalist convicted of promoting and participating in the 1994 genocide, Valerie Bemeriki, has made bold testimony by accusing the Rwandan Minister of Defense General Marcel Gatsizi of playing a major role in the 100 days killings that left a million people dead in 1994.
Bemeriki worked on the infamous hate Radio-Television Libre de Mille Collines (RTLM) that promoted the widespread killings against Rwandans, mostly of Tutsi social strata.
Appearing before the genocide traditional tribunal, Gacaca court of appeal of Nyakabanda in Kigali, the controversial journalist asked the judges why they have failed to arrest some high profile people she named in her earlier trial, yet they held positions of responsibility during the genocide.
On her list was among others, the Defense Minister General Marcel Gatsinzi, fugitive and alleged financier of the massacres, Felicien Kabuga and former speaker of the Rwandan lower chamber of parliament, Alfred Mukezamfura, who earlier this year fled the country.
General Gatsinzi was commander-in-chief of the former Rwandan army between 7 and 16 April, 1994. He was among the few senior military officers of former President Juvenile Habyarimana to protest the planned genocide and later joined the victorious Rwandan Patriotic Front (RPF) army in August 1994 led by President Paul Kagame.
He has since held several positions of responsibility in the military, rising from a colonel to a four star general and also becoming a deputy chief of staff, head of internal security and now defense minister.
Source African Press Agency
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