Rwandan Priests Walk Free From Death Row

October 27 2000 at 10:10PM

Kigali - An appeals court has overturned the first death sentences imposed on Rwandan Roman Catholic priests convicted for their alleged involvement in the country's 1994 genocide and set the two free, the attorney-general said on Friday.

Edouard Nturiye and Francois Kayiranga were convicted and sentenced to death in 1998 on charges that they had organised the murder of 2 000 Tutsis who died when the church in which they had sought shelter was bulldozed and collapsed on them.

On Wednesday, the Ruhengeri Court of Appeals overturned the conviction and set the priests free, Attorney-General Gerald Gahima said. The priests, who maintained their innocence, were cleared of charges of genocide and crimes against humanity, Gahima said. He offered no other details.

The government has been critical of the role of the church in Rwanda, after massacres sometimes took place in churches and seminaries. - Sapa-AP

Source: http://www.iol.co.za/html/frame_news.php?art_id=ct20001027221010544R530875&set_id=19&click_id=68