News
French court rejects request to release Rwandan genocide suspect
A French court has rejected a request to release Rwandan genocide suspect Felicien Kabuga under court supervision.
The court on Wednesday denied his lawyer’s argument that Kabuga should be released on bail because of poor health, saying continued detention ensured he would not abscond. Kabuga can appeal the decision.
The genocide suspect, meanwhile, told the court the international charges against him were “lies”.
Kabuga, who was arrested near Paris earlier this month after more than 20 years on the run, is accused of financing and arming the ethnic Hutu militias that slaughtered some 800,000 Tutsi and moderate Hutus in 1994.
The one-time tea and coffee tycoon was seated in a wheelchair at the front of the court, with his hands folded in his lap, wearing a blue shirt and dark blue trousers as well as a face mask.
Asked if he understood the charges made by a United Nations tribunal, Kabuga told the court through an interpreter: “All of this is lies. I have not killed any Tutsis. I was working with them.”
He confirmed his identity saying he was born in 1933, rather than 1935 as stated in court documents.
“It’s a major arrest but of course we must respect the presumption of innocence,” Etienne Nsanzimana, a Rwanda genocide survivor, told Al Jazeera.
“He was one of the main figures of the old Rwanda and he was wanted on several charges – so it’s a huge relief he has been caught.”
According to an indictment from the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda (ICTR), Kabuga chaired the notorious Radio Television Libre des Mille Collines (RTLM) and used it to incite hatred between Hutus and Tutsis.
The indictment alleges RTLM “incited the commission of genocide through broadcasts that expressly identified persons as Tutsis, provided their locations, described them as the enemy, and called for their elimination”.
Kabuga also agreed with others to create and fund a militia in the capital, Kigali, with the aim of stirring up ethnic hatred and committing genocide against Tutsis, according to the indictment.
Should the Paris Court of Appeal approve Kabuga’s extradition, it will order him to be handed over to the International Residual Mechanism for Criminal Tribunals.
– AL JAZEERA AND NEWS AGENCIES
News
Craze for x’mas shopping: Crowded markets, low patronage
Vendors of food and other wares associated with the Christmas celebration have expressed surprise at the low patronage despite the increased number of visitors to some of the major markets across the capital.
Four days to the celebration(Christmas), the markets are filled with various products ranging from food, clothing, livestock and many other stuff, but according to the vendors, patrons are doing more ‘window’ shopping.
The Spectator on visits to some of the markets in the capital, notably the Odawna, Makola, Accra Central Business District, New Town and others made similar observations as shoppers crowd them but did little in terms of purchases.
The paper also observed that majority of vendors, originally selling other wares have switched to product related to the festive season.
What it means is that there are a lot more clothes, food and vegetables, livestock and poultry, toys, firecrackers, drinks of different types and many others on display.
The markets have also stretched to the pedestrian pavement, leaving very narrow spaces for commuters to move about freely.
That, in addition to a few of the female vendors dressed in coloured attires to reflect the occasion, has heightened the euphoria, leaving the low sales as the only headache for the vendors.
Speaking with this paper, they sounded very optimistic, believing that sales would improve in the last few days to the yuletide.
According to them, there was the opportunity to sell beyond Christmas as the New Year celebration offers similar opportunity to trade the same wares.
They urged patrons to throng the markets to shop since prices were quite moderate and products affordable for all.
News
Retirement service for Elder John Ackom-Asante,3 others
Retired Deputy Editor of The Spectator, Elder John Ackom-Asante, was last Sunday honoured by the Church of Pentecost Windy Hills District in Kasoa in the Central Region, with a retirement thanksgiving service, after serving for 26 year as an Elder of the church.
He was honoured with a citation and certificate of service along with three other elders who served in the capacity for various years.
Elder Ackom-Asante was baptised at the Darkuman Central Assembly in 1979 and ordained as an Elder in 1997.
The citation read “Your selfless service, zeal, willingness to relate wholeheartedly and your desire to effect change has gone a long way to shape the lives of many people in the church and the nation over the 26 years of your dedication to the service of the Lord.”
Elder Ackom- Asante held many positions at the Darkuman Central Assembly, Obuasi in the Ashanti Region and Tema, serving in various capacities as youth and evangelism ministry leader and marriage counsellor.
He was the founding member of the Darkuman Christian Fellowship, a member of the Greater Accra Christian Fellowship; member of Bible Society of Ghana; founding member Obuasi Chapter Full Gospel Businessmen Fellowship International and founding member of New Times Corporation Christian Fellowship and Chaplain, Methodist University Tema Campus 2009- 2010.
As a professional journalist, Elder Ackom-Asante combined effectively and efficiently his duty as a member and elder of the church and the demands of his profession, with admiration from the church, kith and kin, till his retirement on December
From Alhaji Salifu Abdul-Rahaman, Kasoa
