Rwanda Arrests Three for 'Offences against State Security'
Police in Rwanda announced Monday they have arrested three people on charges of threatening state security, among them a radio journalist previously reported missing and a peace activist musician.
Rwandan police said in a statement that the three were accused of connections with the Rwanda National Congress (RNC), an opposition party in exile linked to Patrick Karegeya, a former spy chief who was murdered in South Africa at the beginning of the year.
The three are also accused of "working for some time in collaboration with the FDLR," Rwandan Hutu rebels who include the perpetrators of the 1994 genocide in their ranks and who are based in the forests of neighboring DR Congo.
The statement said Cassien Ntamuhanga, a journalist at Amazing Grace Radio who had earlier been reported missing, was arrested Monday, musician Kizito Mihigo was arrested on Friday and demobilized soldier Jean Paul Dukuzumuremyi was taken in over the weekend.
"Mihigo, Ntamuhanga and Dukuzumuremyi are under investigation for involvement in planning terrorist attacks against Rwanda, planning violent overthrow of the government, planning to assassinate government officials and inciting violence among the population," the statement said.
"The three are suspected to be working closely with senior members of Rwanda National Congress (RNC) and the FDLR, and participating actively in a network that has carried out several grenade attacks and continues to plan terrorist action against Rwanda," it added.
According to police spokesman Damas Gatare, officers possessed "ample evidence including grenades and testimonies obtained from other accomplices" and that the three "have admitted to working closely with senior members of RNC and FDLR".
The arrests come as Rwanda is holding commemorations marking the 20th anniversary of the genocide, but also amid mounting criticism of the alleged crushing of all political dissent by Rwanda's strongman and President Paul Kagame.
The RNC's leaders are all former members of the ruling Rwandan Patriotic Front, which is led by Kagame and which has dominated the country since its then-rebel army ended the 1994 genocide.
Source: Agence France Presse
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