State serves court with Murekezi documents:  Rwandan extradition hearing set for Jan 16

The State  has served Lilongwe Principal Magistrate documents it has received from Rwandan government on  Vincent Murekezi, a Rwandan who is claimed to be  genocide suspect in Malawi custody amid an on-going court battle for his extradition.

According to senior State advocate Steven Kayuni, the evidence will aid the State’s case in court asfailure to extradite the suspect  will further encourage those who may have been involved in genocide and other crimes against humanity to feel protected in the UKMalawi, a wrong message to send to the world.

Lilongwe Magistrate’s Court has since set January 16 as the date when it will start hearing  the case concerning extradition of the  Rwandans suspected of participating in the 1994 Genocide against the Tutsi.a

“We have submitted the files to both the court and the defence lawyers today and the court has set 16 January as the date for hearing of,” Kayuni said.

One of the defence lawyers, Wapona Kita, said they have received the files and they will appear vehemently defend Murekezi.

He  said there was a risk Murekezi would not get a fair trial in Rwanda.

Murekezi, who holds two Malawian passports with different names of Murekezi and Banda plus a citizenship, is also accused of dodging a corruption case that Malawi Revenue Authority and Anti- Corruption Bureau raised against him in 2008 and it is yet to be known how the state will proceed in this particular case.