OSLO, Norway: A Rwandan man pleaded not guilty to organizing the murder of 2,000 people in the 1994 genocide in the African country as his trial opened in a Norwegian court on yesterday.
Sadi Bugingo, 47, a former businessman, is accused of taking a leading role in planning and leading attacks against Tutsi civilians who sought refuge in a Catholic centre and a hospital, prosecutors said.
“Bugingo encouraged people in his militia to murder and strengthened people’s resolve to kill,” prosecutor Petter Mandt told the court hearing the first genocide trial in Norway’s history.
More than 800,000 people were killed when Rwanda’s Hutu-led government and ethnic militias went on a 100-day killing spree in April 1994, indiscriminately killing Tutsis and moderate Hutus after long-standing ethnic tensions flared up.
Bugingo has lived in Norway since 2002 and was tracked down there by Rwandan prosecutors. He pleaded not guilty to the charges but if convicted, faces a maximum 21-year prison sentence. “If you commit a war crime, crime against humanity or taken part in genocide, you have to be punished no matter where you live,” prosecutor Mandt said.
Bugingo is accused to taking part in attacks at the St. Joseph Catholic centre and municipal building in Kibungo and also leading a group that dragged victims from the hospital to kill them at a brick factory. He is not charged with carrying out the murders himself.
Witnesses said Hutu militants surrounded the parish and municipal house, threw hand grenades on the buildings and attacked men, women and children with guns, machetes, clubs and sticks.
Norwegian prosecutors have collected more than a 100 witness statements and several survivors are due to travel to Oslo to testify in a trial that is expected to run until December. Rwanda was also keen to prosecute Bugingo but did not ask for his extradition after Norway assured the government it would provide all the necessary resources.
“This is a big case for Rwanda because it gives an impression that the long arm of the law will not tolerate any impunity against a genocide fugitive regardless of where the crime was committed,” said Jean Bosco Siboyintore, National Prosecutor at the Genocide Fugitive Tracking Unit in Rwanda.
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Man in Oslo stands trial for Rwandan genocide
Man in Oslo stands trial for Rwandan genocide
Trump administration says it is creating new DOJ division to tackle fraud
- Trump administration has said it is freezing funds for some states over fraud allegations
- Critics say Trump has used fraud probes to go after immigrants and political opponents
WASHINGTON: President Donald Trump’s administration said on Thursday it was creating a new division at the US Department of Justice to combat what the White House called “rampant” fraud across the country.
Rights advocates and critics have said the Trump administration has used fraud allegations as an excuse to target immigrants and political opponents. They have also dismissed Trump’s ability to tackle fraud, citing pardons from Trump to those who have faced fraud convictions in the past.
“To combat the rampant and pervasive problem of fraud in the United States, the DOJ’s new division for national fraud enforcement will enforce the federal criminal and civil laws against fraud targeting federal government programs, federally funded benefits, businesses, nonprofits and private citizens nationwide,” the White House said in a statement.
In recent weeks, the Trump administration has singled out Minnesota, alleging rampant fraud is being committed by immigrants in the welfare system and social-service programs.
Trump administration officials have frequently and sharply attacked the state’s Somali community, the largest in the country. Rights and immigration advocates say Trump has exaggerated isolated examples and used those to engage in what they called federal overreach.
The assistant attorney general for the new Justice Department division will be responsible for leading the department’s efforts to investigate, prosecute and remedy fraud affecting the federal government, federally funded programs and private citizens, the White House said.
The White House said the official will advise the US attorney general and deputy attorney general “on issues involving significant, high-impact fraud investigations and prosecutions and related policy matters.”
Earlier this week, the Trump administration said it would freeze more than $10 billion in federal childcare and family assistance funds to California, Colorado, Illinois, Minnesota and New York, citing what the administration called fraud concerns. The states later sued the Trump administration.
The administration has threatened federal funding cuts to organizations and states over a number of issues ranging from alleged fraud in programs in states governed by Democrats to diversity initiatives and pro-Palestinian university protests against US ally Israel’s assault on Gaza.
Rights advocates and critics have said the Trump administration has used fraud allegations as an excuse to target immigrants and political opponents. They have also dismissed Trump’s ability to tackle fraud, citing pardons from Trump to those who have faced fraud convictions in the past.
“To combat the rampant and pervasive problem of fraud in the United States, the DOJ’s new division for national fraud enforcement will enforce the federal criminal and civil laws against fraud targeting federal government programs, federally funded benefits, businesses, nonprofits and private citizens nationwide,” the White House said in a statement.
In recent weeks, the Trump administration has singled out Minnesota, alleging rampant fraud is being committed by immigrants in the welfare system and social-service programs.
Trump administration officials have frequently and sharply attacked the state’s Somali community, the largest in the country. Rights and immigration advocates say Trump has exaggerated isolated examples and used those to engage in what they called federal overreach.
The assistant attorney general for the new Justice Department division will be responsible for leading the department’s efforts to investigate, prosecute and remedy fraud affecting the federal government, federally funded programs and private citizens, the White House said.
The White House said the official will advise the US attorney general and deputy attorney general “on issues involving significant, high-impact fraud investigations and prosecutions and related policy matters.”
Earlier this week, the Trump administration said it would freeze more than $10 billion in federal childcare and family assistance funds to California, Colorado, Illinois, Minnesota and New York, citing what the administration called fraud concerns. The states later sued the Trump administration.
The administration has threatened federal funding cuts to organizations and states over a number of issues ranging from alleged fraud in programs in states governed by Democrats to diversity initiatives and pro-Palestinian university protests against US ally Israel’s assault on Gaza.
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