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#FreeDianeRwigara


Image result for Diane Rwigara

A year has now passed since she was arrested and charged with inciting insurrection against the state, as well as other offences. She was blocked from challenging Kagame in last year’s presidential election in August. She was arrested on September 22, along with her mother and sister for alleged tax evasion and forgery as well as for inciting insurrection. In June 2018, Rwandan authorities auctioned off her family’s business assets and sold machinery from the family’s tobacco business for almost Sh2 billion ($2m) in a bid to recover Sh7 billion ($7m) in tax arrears. Her mother Adeline was also refused bail on similar charges by the court in the capital Kigali, but charges against his sister Diane were lifted and she was released from custody.

PERSECUTION

In an interview just before her detention last month, Rwigara, 35, said she was a victim of political persecution "for standing against oppression and speaking my mind."

Other critics and opposition figures have also been detained in recent weeks in what observers say is a post-election crackdown on dissent.

The refusal to allow her to run against Kagame, who won the August 4 election with 99 percent of the vote, on claims of procedural irregularities was widely criticised by Western governments and rights groups.

The court on Monday spoke of the "sensitivity" of the case, adding that Rwigara and her mother could flee the country if they were released.

Insurrection carries a possible 15-year prison term.
 Image result for Diane Rwigara
Rwigara is the daughter of Assinapol Rwigara, an entrepreneur who made a fortune in industry and real estate, and a main backer of Kagame's Rwandan Patriotic Front (FPR) during its efforts to topple the Hutu extremist regime in 1994, ending the Rwandan genocide.

Diane Rwigara later distanced herself from the FPR after her father's death in a car crash in 2015, which she has claimed was an "assassination".
The family says the auction and charges against her are politically motivated.
Kenyans on Twitter started the hashtag #FreeDianeRwigara with an aim of raising a concern about a person who tried to bring changes to their country.

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