[JURIST] Former Rwandan president Pasteur Bizimungu [BBC profile] has asked that country's high court to overturn his 15-year criminal sentence [JURIST report] for inciting violence, embezzlement, and associating with criminals. On appeal, Bizimungu argues he was tried on charges different from those for which he was originally arrested and that his prosecution is politically motivated. First sentenced in June 2004, Bizimungu began his appeals process in April [JURIST report]. He was Rwanda's first president after that country's 1994 genocide and was viewed as a symbol of post-genocide reconciliation between Hutus and Tutsis. He stepped down in 2000, after a falling out with Tutsi president Paul Kagame [BBC profile]. CNN has more.