Former Rwanda officer charged with sedition

Kigali (AFP) - A former Rwandan army captain who was recently released after serving six months in prison for illegal weapons possession appeared in court on Monday to face new charges of sedition.

In a court hearing in the capital Kigali, retired captain David Kabuye was accused of "inciting insurrection and insulting senior government officials" while he was behind bars, a prosecutor said.

Prosecutor Mathieu Gashayija said the former officer had accused Rwandan authorities of kidnapping and eliminating opponents and had said the central African nation's strongman President Paul Kagame was purging opponents.

The prosecutor also said he had sympathised with rebels based in neighbouring Democratic Republic of Congo.

Kabuye denied the charges, and claimed he was being victimised for trying to expose prison corruption and racketeering by guards.

"The root cause of the allegations is a report I compiled on what happens in the prison," he told the court.

"I told prison guards that I was going to write a report to be submitted when I leave prison, and they threatened me that they would in turn accuse me of many counts," he alleged.

Kabuye was first arrested last year along with two other Rwandan military figures, some of them close to Kagame's inner circle of power, prompting speculation of a major political crisis.

Rwanda's president, who came to power as leader of an ethnic Tutsi rebel army, has been widely credited with stabilising and transforming the country in the wake of the 1994 genocide during which at least 800,000 people, mostly Tutsis, were killed by Hutu extremists.

The country has clocked strong and steady economic growth, and scores highly on league tables for business friendliness and anti-corruption measures -- thanks in part to the fact that Kagame runs a very tight ship with a single-minded focus on the national interest.

In contrast, the same conduct has earned him increased criticism from rights groups, who say Rwanda is a democracy in name only where all dissent is crushed.