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Attorney Peter Erlinder Must Be Immediately Released |
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According to available information, Professor Peter Erlinder, a Defence attorney at the ICTR, and Professor of Law at William Mitchell College of Law in the United States, was arrested on 28 May in Kigali on the charge of “denying genocide.”
Professor Erlinder is in Kigali this week, acting on behalf of his client, Ms. Victoire Ingabire Umuhoza, who is trying to oppose President Kagame in the upcoming August elections, and who also has been charged with “denying genocide.” Professor Erlinder is Lead Counsel for Major Aloys Ntabakuze in the “Military I” case at the ICTR. He is also one of the organizers of the successful ICTR Defence Conference, held in Brussels, Belgium last week-end.
He is President of the ADAD, the ICTR Defense Counsel organization. We urge all individuals and organizations to urgently contact the Rwandan government, the U.S. Government and others to
a) demand the immediate release of Professor Peter Erlinder;
b) demand Professor Erlinder’s immediate access to counsel; and
c) urge the Rwandan government to drop the fabricated and baseless charges against Professor Erlinder.
Signed: Ad Hoc Organizing Committee for Brussels Conference
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