KIGALI, Rwanda (AP) — A prominent opposition leader in Rwanda has been arrested on charges she assisted an alleged plot to incite public unrest.
Victoire Ingabire was arrested on Thursday and is being detained in the Rwandan capital of Kigali. Her team of international lawyers in a statement called her arrest “baseless and politically motivated.”
The Rwanda Investigations Bureau links Ingabire to alleged subversion after her name was mentioned in an ongoing criminal case against nine people accused of plotting to overthrow the government of President Paul Kagame.
The Rwanda Investigations Bureau said it was probing her alleged role in creating a criminal gang.
Ingabire appeared in court Thursday to be questioned by prosecutors who charged that she had been communicating with the nine suspects. Among the suspects is a journalist named Theoneste Nsengimana. The rest are members of the DALFA-Umurinzi group, a party led by Ingabire that is not recognized by authorities.
Ingabire previously led the FDU-Inkingi group, a coalition of opposition parties that also was never permitted to register with the government.
Ingabire spent 16 years in exile in the Netherlands and returned to Rwanda to launch an opposition political movement in 2010 but was imprisoned before she could contest the presidential election.
She was later found guilty of conspiracy to undermine the government and denying Rwanda’s 1994 genocide, charges she denied.
Sentenced to 15 years, she was freed in 2018 after obtaining presidential pardon.
But Kagame has since threatened Ingabire with a possible return to jail. In 2020 the president said that Ingabire should not be shocked if she is locked up again.
Her lawyers say she has committed no crimes.
“This re-arrest is simply the latest step in an ongoing campaign of harassment and intimidation which the Rwandan government has been carrying out” against Ingabire, the statement from her lawyers said.
Three decades after a genocide that killed an estimated 800,000 Tutsis and moderate Hutus, Rwanda’s president has won international praise for presiding over a peaceful and rapid economic recovery.
AP’s Africa coverage at: https://apnews.com/hub/africa
FILE - In this Monday, Sept. 5, 2011 file photo, Rwandan opposition leader Victoire Ingabire listens to the judge during the her trial in Kigali, Rwanda. (AP Photo/Shant Fabricatorian, File)
SALT LAKE CITY (AP) — A shooting outside a church building in Salt Lake City killed two people and injured six others Wednesday, police said.
The shooting took place in the parking lot of a meetinghouse of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, widely known as the Mormon church.
Dozens of people were attending a funeral inside at the time. All the victims were adults.
Police said they do not believe the shooter had any animus toward a particular faith.
“We don’t believe this was a targeted attack against a religion or anything like that,” Salt Lake City Police Chief Brian Redd said.
Police also do not believe the shooting was random. Authorities said no suspect was in custody.
About 100 law enforcement vehicles were at the scene in the aftermath, and helicopters flew overhead.
“This should never have happened outside a place of worship. This should never have happened outside a celebration of life,” Mayor Erin Mendenhall said.
The church was cooperating with law enforcement and was grateful for efforts first responders' efforts, a spokesperson said.
“We extend prayers for all who have been impacted by this tragedy and express deep concern that any sacred space intended for worship should be subjected to violence of any kind,” Sam Penrod said in a statement.
The church is headquartered in Salt Lake City, and about half of Utah’s 3.5 million residents are members of the faith. Churches like the one where the shooting occurred can be found in towns throughout the city and state.
The faith has been on heightened alert since four people were killed when a former Marine opened fire in a Michigan church last month and set it ablaze. The FBI found that he was motivated by “anti-religious beliefs” against the church.
Police respond to a fatal shooting in a parking lot of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in Salt Lake City on Wednesday, Jan. 7, 2025. (AP Photo/Hannah Schoenbaum)
Police respond to a fatal shooting in a parking lot of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in Salt Lake City on Wednesday, Jan. 7, 2025. (AP Photo/Hannah Schoenbaum)
Police respond to a fatal shooting in a parking lot of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in Salt Lake City on Wednesday, Jan. 7, 2025. (Laura Seitz/The Deseret News via AP)
People hug each other after a fatal shooting in a parking lot of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in Salt Lake City on Wednesday, Jan. 7, 2025. (Laura Seitz/The Deseret News via AP)
Funeral attendees leave a meetinghouse of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints after a fatal shooting in the parking lot in Salt Lake City on Wednesday, Jan. 7, 2025. (Laura Seitz/The Deseret News via AP)
Police respond to a fatal shooting in a parking lot of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in Salt Lake City on Wednesday, Jan. 7, 2025. (Rio Giancarlo/The Deseret News via AP)
