Get all your news in one place.
100’s of premium titles.
One app.
Start reading
Radio France Internationale
Radio France Internationale
World
RFI

Rwanda detains opposition leader Ingabire over alleged incitement

Opposition politician Victoire Ingabire, head of Development and Liberty for All (DALFA), at the High Court in Kigali on 13 March 2024. AFP - GUILLEM SARTORIO

Kigali (Reuters) – Rwanda has arrested prominent opposition leader Victoire Ingabire, who is being held at a detention facility in the capital Kigali on charges of inciting the public and creating a criminal organisation, a state investigative agency said.

Ingabire was freed in 2018 after serving eight years of a 15-year jail sentence handed to her in 2012 following her conviction on charges related to conspiring to form an armed group and seeking to minimise the 1994 genocide.

She is now accused of "playing a role in creating a criminal organisation and engaging in acts that incite public disorder," the Rwanda Investigations Bureau said in a statement late on Thursday.

It did not say when she would be charged in court.

France drops genocide probe against widow of former Rwandan president Habyarimana

Ingabire, who heads unregistered opposition party DALFA–Umurinzi, returned from exile in the Netherlands to contest a presidential election in 2010, but was barred from standing after being accused of genocide denial.

Last year President Paul Kagame, in power for a quarter of a century, won re-election after securing 99.18 percent of the vote, according to the electoral body.

Kagame is lauded for transforming Rwanda from the ruins of the 1994 genocide to a thriving economy but his reputation has also been tainted by longstanding accusations of rights abuses and supporting rebels in neighbouring Democratic Republic of Congo.

Sign up to read this article
Read news from 100’s of titles, curated specifically for you.
Already a member? Sign in here
Related Stories
Top stories on inkl right now
One subscription that gives you access to news from hundreds of sites
Already a member? Sign in here
Our Picks
Fourteen days free
Download the app
One app. One membership.
100+ trusted global sources.