afrol News, 21 April - The Rwanda court has ruled out an urgent application by lawyers of the former rebel leader Laurent Nkunda that he was illegally held in Gisenyi by the Rwandan soldiers.

Mr Nkunda who is currently under house arrest in Rwanda, was arrested on 22 January on the Rwandan territory after trying to resist an arrest by the joint Rwandan-Congolese operation in the eastern Democratic Republic of Congo.

Mr Nkunda's lawyer, Stephane Bourgon argued that if the Rwandan government does not formally charge Mr Nkuda, he should be released, vowing to appeal his detention in the country. Mr Nkunda is reportedly accused of committing various crimes during his five-year eastern rebellion.

The lawyer further deplored the fact that he never had access to his client, Mr Nkunda, since his arrest early this year.

The Congolese government has been seeking the extradition of General Nkunda since his arrest early this year, however, the Rwandan government has been reluctant to release him to DRC fearing possible rights violations and unfair trial.

Mr Nkunda, who was ousted as leader of the National Congress for the Defense of the People (CNDP) in January had claimed to be fighting to protect the region's ethnic Tutsi minority from Hutu militias that took refuge there after participating in the 1994 genocide in neighbouring Rwanda.

The CNDP launched a major offensive against the government troops and other armed groups in the eastern DRC in August 2008.

The upsurge in fighting in North Kivu province bordering Rwanda and growing involvement of neighbouring states in a move to end the conflict had raised fears of a repeat of the 1998 to 2003 DRC war.

By staff writer

© afrol News

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