Rwandan presidential aide vows to clear name

A Rwandan presidential aide has been protesting her innocence after a court in France placed her under investigation over a political killing.

Supporters of Rose Kabuye celebrated as she was conditionally released. But she has been charged with “complicity in murder in relation to terrorism” following her extradition from Germany.

Kabuye says she chose to come to France to clear her name.

“I know I am innocent. Nobody sent me. I decided, when I got arrested in Frankfurt, that I should come straight to face the French Justice and to prove my innocence,” she said.

Kabuye is accused of involvement in the downing of a plane carrying former Rwandan leader Juvenal Habyarimana in 1994. His assassination is widely seen as triggering the start of Rwanda’s genocide.

Some 14 years after the bloodbath, Kabuye is hugely popular in Rwanda. Her arrest has marked a new low point in its relations with France.

Copyright © 2009 euronews

tags: France, Rwanda