Rwandan opposition leader gets 15-year jail

Kigali –  Rwanda’s Supreme Court in Kigali sentenced opposition leader Victoire Ingabire to 15 years in prison Friday , extending her jail term from eight years awarded by the High Court for conspiring against the government.

The court upheld a previous conviction for terrorist conspiracy and for trivialising the 1994 Rwandan genocide, in which at least 800,000 ethnic Tutsis and moderate Hutus were killed, Xinhua reported.

Ingabire was also found guilty of spreading rumors to incite violence.

“The court has found Ingabire guilty of spreading rumors with an intention to incite the public to rise up against the State, endangering state security and minimising the 1994 Genocide against the Tutsi. She has been sentenced to 15 years,” Justice Immaculee Nyirinkwaya ruled after almost five hours in a packed courtroom.

Ingabire and her counsel Lain Edwards were present in court.