Genocide suspect used forged passport to enter Belgium

Genocide suspect Charles Bandora has said he used a forged passport to enter Belgium from Malawi, which resulted in his arrest, writes the New Times’ Edwin Musoni. Bandora who was extradited to Rwanda from Norway in March, yesterday admitted uttering the forged document while appearing before the Higher Court as he contested an earlier ruling by Nyarugenge Intermediate Court that put him on remand. The intermediate court last week ruled that Bandora would possibly flee from justice if released and that staying on remand was to ensure his security as well as that of the witnesses. "If this court releases Bandora, he will certainly flee. When he was arrested in Malawi and provisionally released, he fled to Belgium and after he was detained there and later granted bail, he fled to Norway," said prosecutor John Bosco Siboyintore. This is clear proof that he can even escape, he entered Belgium using a forged passport in the name of Charles Kamwana," Siboyintore told the court. When the presiding judge, Julian Ndinda, asked Bandora if he used a forged passport, the defendant answered in the affirmative. "I am a businessman and I was arrested in Malawi due to issues related to my businesses. When I was released, I didn't have Malawian citizenship, yet I needed to travel to Belgium, so I forged a passport," Bandora said. During the hearing, another prosecutor, Faustin Nkusi, also asked the court to deny Bandora bail, saying he fled the country because he was "running away from the long arm of justice" for his role in the Genocide. "If he would not flee, why was he asking the Norwegian court not to extradite him to Rwanda?" Nkusi asked. The High Court will pronounce itself on Bandora's bail appeal on Thursday. Bandora is accused of genocide, conspiracy to commit genocide, complicity in genocide, extermination as a crime against humanity, murder and formation of a criminal gang. Prosecution says during the 1994 Genocide against the Tutsi, he was the vice chairperson of the ruling MRND in Bugesera. MRND instigated and implemented the Genocide in which more than a million people were killed.