Three military officers arrested in August were arraigned in a military court last week Friday, where they denied charges of inciting the public against the government; spreading rumours with an aim of tarnishing the image of the country and its leadership; as well as illegal possession of fire arms.

Col Tom Byabagamba, the former head of President Paul Kagame’s guard brigade and a serving officer, Brig-Gen (Rtd) Frank Rusagara and Sgt (Rtd) Francois Kabayiza were arraigned before the military tribunal in Kigali as the pre-trial hearing resumed.

READ: Senior Rwanda military officers face charges

The trio denied all the charges. Dr Rusagara, who until last year was Rwanda’s military attaché to the United Kingdom is separately charged with Col Byabagamba, his in-law, on two charges of illegal possession of firearms and spreading dangerous rumours with an aim of inciting the public against the government.

Sgt Kabayiza on the other hand is accused of obstructing investigations. Dr Rusagara’s driver allegedly transported the guns previously owned by Dr Rusagara to Col Byabagamba’s residence where they were hidden.

Dr Rusagara and Sgt Kabayiza’s earlier petition challenging the jurisdiction of the military court to try them since they retired from the army was quashed by the military high court, committing them to a military trial.

When the hearing resumed, both the defence and prosecution were given an opportunity to make their submissions to either accord or deny the suspects bail. Both Dr Rusagara and Col Byabagamba deny the charges.

Prosecutors told the court that the state is in possession of testimonies from witnesses to confirm that both Dr Rusagara and Col Byabagamba were actively involved in a campaign aimed at inciting the public against the government and the country’s leadership.

The two men allegedly said that “Rwanda was increasing becoming a police state” and “a banana republic.” Prosecutors further say that the two said that the ‘Rwanda National Congress (RNC) was growing stronger.’

Opposition group

The RNC is one of the most outstanding opposition groups formed by exiled former high ranking government and military officers.

The charge could turn out to be the most serious considering that the government deals heavily with individuals linked to the group, which it says is engaged in subversive and terrorist acts.

Prosecutors contend that such utterances are aimed at tarnishing the image of the country and its leadership and depicting them in bad light. They further say that the two were determined to spread RNC propaganda.

It was alleged that Dr Rusagara deliberately spread the rumours among top ranking officers in the army who consider him their senior, given the previous positions he occupied.

Dr Rusagara and Col Byabagamba both said that there is no evidence to prove that they made the statements and that the accusations were based on hearsay.

Sgt Kabayiza is accused of failing to report the guns to the police and instead taking them to Col Byabagamba’s home, which amounts to conspiracy to commit a crime.