Jailed Rwandan General, ex-Kagame guard withdraw petition from EACJ

Brig Gen (Rtd) Frank Rusagara was in 2016 convicted alongside his brothers-in-law Tom Byabagamba were for inciting rebellion against the established government while Byabagamba was also found to have disrespected the national flag and Rusagara for illegal possession of arms.

KIGALI | A Rwandan General who is serving a 15-year jail term has withdrawn a petition challenging his conviction from the East African Court of Justice (EACJ).

Brig Gen (Rtd) Frank Rusagara was in 2016 convicted alongside his brothers-in-law Tom Byabagamba for inciting rebellion against the government of Paul Kagame.

Byabagamba, who was at a rank of a Colonel in the Rwanda Defense Force, is a former head of the Presidential Guard unit.

The two were arrested in 2014 and charged with inciting insurrection and tarnishing the government's image.

Upon conviction, Byabagamba was stripped of military ranks.

In 2020, the two-in-laws petitioned the regional court's sub-registry in Nairobi to have their conviction and sentences quashed.

According to Rwanda's State-owned digital newspaper, The New Times, Michael Osundwa, attorney for the duo, had argued that their detention was unlawful and an infringement of Articles 6, 7 and 8 of the treaty establishing the East African Community.

While speaking their conviction in 2019, the two said they suffered solitary confinement and were subjected to close surveillance by cameras.

But in an unexpected decision on Wednesday, March 14, Osundwa told the court that his clients had asked the EACJ to end the petition.

The lawyer did not divulge reasons for the withdrawal of the case, the New Times reported.

The five-panel judge decided to grant the request and terminated the case.

Rusagara and Byabagamba still have seven years to serve behind bars.

But with President Paul Kagame seeking re-election in the July 15 poll, it is widely expected that he will cut some concessions and the two former military officers could have already negotiated a clemency.

Back in 2019, British parliamentarians wrote to the Rwandan government pleading for the release of Rusagara and Byabagamba.

Kagame has in the recent past exercised his presidential right to clemency and pardoned hundreds of convicts, including political prisoners like Victoire Ingabire.

Rusagara was arrested barely a year after his retirement from the military. He had served in diplomacy - including as Rwanda's Defence Attaché to the United Kingdom - which probably gave him contacts in Europe leading to efforts to by foreign forces to seek clemency.

Gen Rusagara was born in Rwanda, but exiled to Uganda at the age of six where he grew up.

He was involved in the RPF struggle and held several portfolios in policy formulation and implementation with Rwanda’s Ministry of Defense.