After more than five hours of deliberations behind closed doors pronounced jury in Court of Appeal today ruled in the case against Sadi Bugingo.
He was found guilty of complicity in the killing of some 2,000 Tutsis in his home country Rwanda in April day in 1994. The jury acquitted him of complicity in one single murder.
The jury believes that he participated physically as a driver for the killers and by lead them forward to the Tutsi hiding places. He contributed psychologically by strengthening killers intent because he was present during all or part of the massacres.
With the ruling in Court of Appeal is the question of guilt finally settled in the most comprehensive murder case that has been recognized for a Norwegian court.
For 17 weeks Appeal treated the appeal. 88 witnesses from Rwanda testified in court – either in person or via link from the home country. In total, nearly a hundred witnesses have given statements.
Extensive investigation.
Sadi Bugingo was first questioned by NCIS in March 2008 at the request of the Rwandan authorities. He was at the time living in Bergen.
The following year investigators from NCIS to the African country to look up and question persons who had information about the many killings Bugingo was suspected to have contributed to.
Later, it would be another 13 trips to Rwanda for investigators. On several journeys also participated representatives of prosecutors. In addition to interrogate witnesses, were collected evidence with other information about what happened in April day in 1994 in Kibungo, Rwanda.
There have been long periods abroad for investigators from the NCIS headquarters in Bryn, Oslo . How many million case has cost Norwegian taxpayers, there is hardly anyone who has an overview of today.
Special issue.
As a criminal case is mildly special. In addition to the explanations of the defendant and witnesses, has the jury only documentary evidence to relate to. There are no results from crime scene investigations; here there is no forensic evidence of a genocide that happened 20 years ago in a foreign country far away from Norway.
The long time that has passed has probably created some challenges for the jury during the assessment of evidence. There is no doubt that it was committed mass murder at the municipal building in Kibungo and at the Catholic diocese in the city on Thursday 14 April and Friday 15 April 1994.
The question for the jury was the role played defendants under the two massacres which together demanded 2000 Tutsi lives. The killings were using firearms, machetes, axes, hoes and grenades.
The jury also had to decide which dealings Bugingo had with the murders of eight individuals were extracted from the hospital in the town and killed somewhere else . He is acquitted of one of these killings.
See also: Prosecutors believe the defendant is guilty of the murder of more than 2,000 Rwandan
the sentence.
Several Witnesses testified in court that they observed the defendant at the crime scenes. Evidential have enough these witnesses had the greatest importance for the outcome of the case. Witnesses can only tell what they have heard from others, do not normally have the same meaning.
The appeal continues Wednesday with sentencing procedures. Attorney Marit Bakkeviks will require 21 years in prison, the same punishment as Sadi Bugingo received in court.
Norwegian police and prosecutors have put down a solid work on this issue – both in the investigation and through prosecution in two courts.
After Tuesday’s ruling, there is hardly anyone who longer can claim that Norway is a haven for war criminals.
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