While it is said that there is no price tag on justice, this country would beg to disagree as it spends millions of francs on genocide cases whose trials were transferred here.

The government had no choice but to pay the legal fees—estimated at Rwf198 million—for the trials of several key genocide suspects whose extradition it had pushed for for many years.

READ: Govt defends right to try genocide cases

Recently, a court turned down a request by genocide suspect Jean Uwinkindi’s lawyers for Rwf140 million to facilitate them to meet defence witnesses, citing an inflated figure by the defence.

Prosecutors argued that the trials have been turned into “money-making schemes” with lawyers said to pocket about $100 (or Rwf65,000) per hour each in court appearance fees.

Several genocide suspects who have been transferred by the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda (ICTR) and others extradited from abroad, including Dr Leon Mugesera, have refused to foot their legal bills, insisting that the government should do so.

READ: Mugesera refuses to enter plea but fails to delay case

While the new Prosecutor-General, Richard Muhumuza, says the state has the capacity to provide indigent suspects with legal support, be it financial or otherwise, his predecessor, Martin Ngoga, accused defence lawyers of using “delaying tactics” to earn more money.

“There is a price on every hour the lawyers spend in court, which is about $100; so the more the case drags on, the more they earn,” Mr Ngoga told Rwanda Today earlier in May, citing Dr Mugesera’s as one of the trials costing the government a lot of money.

Sources within the Ministry of Justice and the prosecution reveal that the rising cost of the trials is beginning to become a major concern.

Mr Muhumuza refused to comment on the increasing cost of administering justice in the particular cases, saying he would not wish to comment on ongoing cases for fear of being in contempt of court.

“It would be sub judice or under-judgement if I comment on the cost of these cases and I may be cited for contempt of court if I comment on it publicly,” Mr Muhumuza said. “I can however confirm that Rwanda has the financial ability to provide indigent accused with legal assistance.”

However what many legal experts see as suspect, is how all the accused persons have refused to meet their legal costs, instead transferring the burden to the government. They include Bernard Munyagishari, Jean Uwikindi and Dr Mugesera.

According to sources, the trial of Dr Mugesera, who was extradited from Canada in January last year, has already cost the state close to Rwf100 million. The case against Mr Uwinkindi, who was transferred by ICTR in April last year, is estimated to have cost the government Rwf38 million despite the trial having not yet gone into substance.

On September 5, prosecutors Bonaventure Ruberwa and Jean Bosco Mutangana told the court that defence lawyers Gatera Gashabana and Jean Baptiste Niyibizi, who are representing Mr Uwinkindi, were pocketing “exorbitant sums of money” for little work done.

The prosecutors accused the duo of doing little to see the case progress yet they were paid regularly by the Ministry of Justice. The ministry would also pay Rwf60 million to facilitate the defence team to meet witnesses but Mr Uwinkindi’s lawyers say the amount is small. They say they need Rwf160 million.

‘Daylight robbery’

Following press reports that Mr Uwinkindi’s defence team was demanding in excess of Rwf100 million, many Rwandans took to websites and social sites to condemn what they called “broad daylight robbery” of taxpayers’ money, and Justice Minister Johnston Busingye said the government would not squander resources.

In an interview with Rwanda Today, Mr Busingye said there were guidelines on the cost of transferred cases.

“There are agreements in place determining how these funds are spent,” Mr Busingye said. “I don’t want to insinuate that some people are trying to make money out of the cases but our plan is to find the most cost-effective way of litigation.”

He said it was not a matter of dipping into the ministry’s coffers upon every request but that spending on the cases should be prudent.

“On Mr Uwinkindi’s case, we have been talking, and I am sure we are going to reach an understanding where both the government and the defence team will come out winners,” he said. “We need to figure out how we can go about it without it straining the state, even though we all know that such a case has no fixed cost.”

Mr Busingye admitted that there have been constraints but said the government would not fail to meet its obligations to ensure the cases are completed in a fair yet cost-effective manner.

While some argue that the money spent on such cases could be too heavy a burden at a time the government is cutting costs, legal experts argue it is worth the while, though warning it would be disastrous if defence lawyers use the trials as a money-minting scheme.

“Such cases are quite expensive and the principle is, justice does not come cheap,” said Tom Mulisa, a lawyer and law lecturer.