ICTR prosecutor appeals 15 year sentence for Hutu singer News
ICTR prosecutor appeals 15 year sentence for Hutu singer

[JURIST] International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda (ICTR) [official website; JURIST news archive] prosecutor Justice Hassan B. Jallow [official profile] on Tuesday appealed the 15-year sentence [judgment, PDF; JURIST report] given to popular Rwandan singer-songwriter Simon Bikindi [ICTR materials]. Jallow appealed the sentence [Hirondelle report] on the grounds that it was inadequate punishment for "direct and public incitement to commit genocide." The charge is based on a speech Bikindi gave during the 1994 Rwanda genocide [HRW backgrounder] in which he called on Hutus to rise up and exterminate the Tutsis. The prosecution alleged [ICTR press release] that Bikindi "through the lyrical content of his music, consciously and deliberately assisted in executing the plan to exterminate Tutsis."

Bikindi was first indicted and arrested in 2001. At the time of his arrest, Bikindi was living in the Netherlands. He fought extradition for several months but lost and was turned over to the ICTR in March 2002 where he pleaded not guilty [Hirondelle materials] to charges of genocide. The trial commenced [JURIST report] in September 2006 following numerous delays relating to court ordered amendments to the original indictment [trial minutes, PDF].