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Monitoring at the trial against Onesphore Rwabukombe
On April 30, 2015, the 3rd Criminal Senate of the Federal Court of Justice (BGH) heard the appeal against the verdict in the case of Onesphore R., who had been sentenced by the Higher Regional Court (OLG) Frankfurt to 14 years’ imprisonment for aiding and abetting genocide in Rwanda in 1994, in accordance with §§ 220a I Nr. 1 a.F., 27 StGB. Appeals had been filed by the defendant, the Federal Prosecutor’s Office, and the co-plaintiffs. During the oral hearing, the defense requested that the first-instance verdict be entirely overturned and remanded for retrial to a different chamber of the OLG. The Federal Prosecutor requested that the verdict be overturned only to allow further determinations regarding genocidal intent and remanded to the OLG. The representative of the co-plaintiffs requested that the verdict be overturned and a life sentence for murder be imposed, arguing that the findings in the verdict were sufficient to establish genocidal intent. The judgment was announced on May 21, 2015. The BGH partially overturned the verdict of the OLG Frankfurt am Main and remanded it for retrial. A group of Marburg trial monitors from the International Research and Documentation Centre on War Crimes Trials (ICWC) at Philipps University attended the hearing and judgment announcement in Karlsruhe. They were accompanied by the former director of the ICWC and long-time academic supervisor of the project, Professor Dr. Christoph Safferling. Following the hearing on April 30, participants had the opportunity to hold in-depth discussions with members of the 3rd Criminal Senate and a representative of the Federal Prosecutor at his office.
The monitoring reports follow: