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BFF-48
SAFRICA-RWANDA-POLITICS
S.Africa issues arrest warrant for suspected killers of Rwandan ex-spy
JOHANNESBURG, Sept 9, 2019 (BSS/AFP) – South African authorities have
issued an arrest warrant for two of the four alleged murderers of an exiled
Rwandan ex-spy and critic of President Paul Kagame who was killed in a
Johannesburg hotel in 2014, the family lawyer said Monday.
South Africa’s National Prosecuting Authority (NPA) is also applying for
the extradition of two other suspects of Rwandan descent, advocate Gerrie Nel
said in a statement.
If granted, the NPA will apply to Interpol to issue “Red Notices” for the
suspects, Nel said in a statement.
Former spy Patrick Karegeya, 53, was found strangled in his room in the
luxury Michelangelo hotel on January 1, 2014. An autopsy determined he had
died the day before.
All four suspects are on the run and their whereabouts unknown.
Nel on Monday hailed the move to issue the arrest warrants as a “big
victory” but slammed the NPA for delays.
“The only feasible conclusion is that the NPA wanted to avoid a
prosecution. We welcome the current steps and hope that the NPA will continue
with the process keenly,” he said.
Under Kagame’s regime, Karegeya took charge of foreign intelligence
services for a decade, until he fell into disgrace.
He was jailed in 2005 and 2006, and in 2007 went into exile, heading for
South Africa on the heels of former army chief of staff, Faustin Kayumba
Nyamwasa.
According to his family’s legal team, an inquest launched in January 2019
revealed that the NPA could have started to take steps to prosecute on the
grounds of the evidence at their disposal in 2014.
Documents from that January hearing showed South Africa’s prosecuting
authority had also found “links” between the suspects and Kagame’s regime.
But critics say the prosecution had refused to prosecute to avoid
diplomatic tensions with Kagame.
Once in South Africa, Karegeya became a fierce critic of Kagame,
describing the Rwandan leader as a dictator and alleging he had first-hand
knowledge of the state killing of Rwandan dissidents abroad.
The Rwandan government has over the years denied any involvement and
wrongdoing.
But according to Human Rights Watch (HRW) many other former supporters of
Paul Kagame have been the targets of attacks and threats in recent years.
Former general Nyamwasa, another Kagame opponent, survived two
assassination attempts in June 2010 in South Africa in what Pretoria
described as an attack by foreign security operatives.
BSS/AFP/RY/20:20 hrs