(THIS ARTICLE IS MACHINE TRANSLATED by Google from Norwegian)
Eugene Nkurayabahizi has been in custody for almost 1400 days, accused of participating in the genocide in Rwanda. Recently he was almost extradited to Rwanda, where he risked life imprisonment and never again see his family in Norway:
"I can't find words for what it's like to be back with my family again," he said New Time Wednesday night when he was released. The Norwegian authorities have not made a final decision on whether to release or not – but the process has now been temporarily halted.
Ny Tid has previously uncovered a number of incorrect and false testimony in the case against Nkuranyabahizi. We revealed that the main witnesses against Nkuranyabahizi have admitted they lied and made false charges under pressure. Ny Tid also documented that a number of other key witnesses have made accusations such as can't vote, and that they were believed by both Kripos and the Norwegian judiciary.
https://vimeo.com/206363180
NCIS veteran. Håvard Aksnes has worked in Kripos for over 20 years and led the investigation which led to the arrest of the pocketman. The reputed investigative leader has spent 2 – 3 months studying the case against Eugene Nkuranyabahizi:
"He should never have been jailed and he is probably innocent. I am critical of Kripos' investigation of the case. Here there are many obvious weaknesses, and many direct parallels to the Monika case in Bergen. I see clear evidence that investigators have entered the so-called confirmation trap, ”says Aksnes. Today, the pensioner works as a private investigator and lecturer at the Police College in Kongsvinger:
“The investigation hit a bump and came off skewed from the start. It is not objective. You decide on a theory and then you work out to obtain information that fits that theory. Information that does not fit is rejected and explained away, "says Aksnes and continues:
"In addition, there is poor control over how reliable the information is. Several witnesses have also made deliberately false explanations. It's a terribly bad combination. Then things go wrong. ”
Private Detective. Aksnes has written a report and analysis of the investigation that has been sent to both Kripos, the Ministry of Justice and the Attorney General.
You are a private investigator and anyone would object that you have been funded by the law firm?
“The job I have done is to take a professional review of the investigative material. Only thing I was asked was to go through the investigation with a police look and see what this product looked like – a type of job I have done many times before at Kripos. I did a professional assessment of deficiencies in the investigation. Some would say I have another hat on me now, and that's right. But my head is the same, I worked in exactly the same way and without guidance, which was a prerequisite, ”concludes Aksnes.
Reviewer Kripos. Defender Brynjulf Risnes has notified both Kripos and the state attorney. It happens after Kripos has had substantial evidence lying since 2013, without including it in the case:
“We report both Kripos and the National Attorney General's Office to the Police Special Bureau. We do this because it became clear in December last year that important evidence was kept out of the case. This is about Rwandan judges dealing with the same events that Eugene is charged with, ”Risnes explains.
Kripos has not handed over the material to the defenders, despite several requests. This is evidence from a number of judges from the local court settlement after the genocide in Rwanda, from the area Nkuranyabahizi comes from. These show that he has never before been accused of having participated in the genocide. It is further revealed that those who have admitted to having participated in the genocide, attacked the house of Nkuranyabahizi – because they showed that they were hiding Tutsi refugees there. Nkuranyabahizi has consistently claimed that he did not take part in the violence, but helped Tutsis flee the killings – risking his own life. The Rwandan verdicts that Kripos has had lying around without looking, confirm what he has said.
"The turning point of the case». In documents from Kripos that Ny Tid has had access to, it turns out that they now themselves recommend that the case be investigated further. Kripos has consistently rejected this before – but is now turning around. Kripos believes that there is still good reason for suspicion, but that the suspicion is further weakened due to the Rwandan rulings:
"This is the turning point. Kripos has previously rejected everything we have presented previously. There are many indications that it is their own mistake that is now causing them to turn around. I do not see how he can now be extradited. Sending him to Rwanda would be a murder. Now the truth comes out: This case has been fabricated, "Risnes told Ny Tid.
Kripos now believes that the verdicts are relevant to the investigation. They point out that it is now the Ministry of Justice and Emergency Preparedness that will take the final position on extradition. By email, Kripos writes to Ny Tid about the Rwandan verdicts with important information, which they have had with them since 2013. We reproduce here what Espen Hanken, current police attorney writes: «Kripos has since the end of December 2016 performed similar work [reviewed evidence ed.anm] related to the Gacaca judgments, which had not previously been translated from Kinyarwanda and included in the case. The judgments appeared relevant to the grounds for suspicion and the assessments made by Kripos in November 2016. Feedback on this material, with Kripos' recommendations, was sent via the Office of the Public Prosecutor to the Ministry and Defense on 15 February this year.
On February 23, Kripos, like the Ministry, received a longer report prepared by Thune Security (private investigator ed. Note) on behalf of the accused. Given that a complaint is being processed in the case, it is not natural for Kripos to comment on the individual allegations now. ”
