Jean-Bosco Barayagwiza

Who is Jean-Bosco Barayagwiza?

Jean-Bosco Barayagwiza was a Rwandan diplomat and the chairman of the executive committee for the Rwandan radio station Radio Télévision Libre des Mille Collines from 1993 and during the 1994 Rwandan Genocide.

He was charged by the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda on October 23, 2000 along with co-leader Ferdinand Nahimana and Hassan Ngeze, director and editor of the Kangura newspaper. Mr. Barayagwiza was initially defended by Canadian lawyer Mrs. Marchessault and American lawyer Mr. Danielson. When the two lawyers withdrew, Mr. Barayagwiza was defended throughout the trial, up to the sentence of first instance, by the Italian lawyer Giacomo Barletta Caldarera, so far the only Italian lawyer to have acted as defense counsel in a UN International Tribunal. Barayagwiza refused to partake in the trial, claiming that the judges were not impartial.

After his conviction on December 3, 2003 to 35 years imprisonment, he announced that he was appealing the sentence. He was assigned Donald Herbert and Tanoo Mylvaganam as a new defence counsel on November 30, 2004. Mr. Alfred Pognon was called as “adjoint” defense counsel to Mr. Barletta Caldarera. His most recent appeal was rejected by the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda on June 22, 2009.