Beer debt, insult and bloody tragedy: Rwandan sergeant faces life sentence
Sergeant Minani Gervais standing with his attorney at his public trial in Nyamasheke, flanked by military prosecution as the crowd followed proceedings.
Rwanda’s military prosecutors are asking for a life imprisonment sentence for Sergeant Gervais Minani, who is accused of fatally shooting five people last month in Nyamasheke District.
The trial, which began this week in Karambi Sector, where the alleged crime occurred, drew large crowds, including grieving family members. The presence of victims’ families has heightened public pressure on authorities to ensure justice prevails.
The court heard that on November 13, after a night of drinking, a confrontation erupted between the 39-year-old Rwanda Defence Forces (RDF) soldier, a bar owner, and other patrons. The disagreement stemmed from Minani’s inability to pay his bill in cash, as the bar owner demanded, after his phone battery had died.
The soldier, who was wearing plain clothes at the time, stepped out to find a phone to access his mobile money account. Suspecting he was attempting to flee without paying, chaos broke out. After getting a phone to access his mobile money and paying, Minani came inside to inform the bar owner that he had paid and the bar owner told him he should stay for a drink on the house.
The now enraged soldier called the businessman a dog, and he returned a similar insult.
Witnesses said the soldier stormed out and went back to the barracks, only to return dressed in his military fatigues toting a gun and opened fire, killing five of the people and wounding several others.
The bar owner had stepped out for some errands by the time the soldier returned.
At the beginning of the trial, Muriganda Jean Claude, the accused's lawyer withdrew from the case, citing frustrations that his insistence that Minani was mentally unstable, a contributing factor to the alleged crime, had fallen on deaf ears.
The prosecution said they had obtained a letter from mental health professionals citing that Minani has no mental health issue.
The accused started his defence by asking for forgiveness from families of the victims, and the country at large.
He said he was overcome with anger after being insulted and physically assaulted by people in the bar, which drove him to commit the crime.
But the prosecution insisted that what he did was not in self-defence, but premeditated murder to revenge for mere insults.
Minani faces charges of premeditated murder, unlawful use of a firearm, and destruction of military property.
The prosecutor requested the jury to sentence Minani to life for the murder charge, five years for the theft and damage to military equipment, and one year for the unlawful use of a weapon.
The verdict will be delivered on December 9.
Minani was arrested by RDF right after the incident, and the force released a statement condoling with the families, and regretting the heinous crimes committed by the soldier.
Similar incidents of RDF soldiers shooting and killing civilians in different parts of the country have been reported in the past.
RDF has compensated families of those killed by soldiers in the past, to a tune of Rwf30 million ($21,630) per victim.
During the burial ceremony of the latest victims an RDF representative pledged that the force would compensate the families who lost loved ones.
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