Che bello, la storia giudiziaria dell’Italia, già molto complicata di suo, si arricchisce di un nuovo tassello e del discutibile primato di avere un suo concittadino coinvolto in uno dei più pazzeschi genocidi della storia recente. E’ infatti stato trasferito nel nostro Paese, per scontare il resto della sua pena, l’unico non rwandese condannato dal Tribunale Criminale Internazionale per il Rwanda in seguito ai fatti di Radio Milles Collines, l’emittente che con i suoi slogan razzisti incitò e guidò il massacro dei Tutsi nel 1994. L’imputato si chiama Georges Ruggiu, è italo-belga e all’epoca dei fatti lavorava come producer e presentatore nella stazione radio diventata simbolo della violenta propaganda razziale in Africa, tornata al lavoro anche di recente in Kenya. Il suo trasferimento avviene in seguito alla decisione della Corte d’Appello di Roma per il riconoscimento del ruolo del Tribunale Internazionale. Il che autorizza l’Italia a diventare parte attiva nell’esecuzione delle sentenze. Ecco il comunicato stampa della corte:
Georges Omar Ruggiu Transferred to Italy
Georges Omar Ruggiu the only non-Rwandese convicted and sentenced by the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda (ICTR) was today surrendered to a high level delegation of the International Police Cooperation Service of the Italian Ministry of Interior. Mr. Ruggiu was thereafter transferred by a special Italian Air Force flight to Italy where he is to serve the remainder of his sentence.
The transfer follows an agreement on enforcement of sentences signed between the Government of Italy and the United Nations on 17 March 2004 and the recent decision of the fourth Criminal Section of the Appeals Court of Rome recognizing the ICTR sentence and authorizing its enforcement in Italy.
Mr. Ruggiu, born on 12 October 1957 in Verviers province of Liege, Belgium worked with RTLM from 6 January 1994 to 14 July 1994, at the time of genocide in Rwanda. He was arrested during the ICTR Prosecutor’s operation codenamed NAKI (Nairobi-Kenya) on 23 July 1997 in Mombasa, Kenya, by the Kenyan authorities. He was immediately transferred to the Tribunal’s detention facility in Arusha, Tanzania.
Following his guilty plea to two counts charging him with direct and public incitement to commit genocide and crimes against humanity, Mr. Ruggiu, a former journalist and broadcaster with Radio Television Libre des Mille Collines (RTLM) was sentenced on 1 June 2000 to 12 years in prison by the Trial Chamber I then composed of Judges Navanethem Pillay, presiding, Erik Møse and Pavel Dolenc.
Mr. Ruggiu was the eighth accused person to be convicted by the Tribunal and the third to plead guilty to charges of genocide and crimes against humanity committed in Rwanda in 1994.
Secondo Trial Watch, Ruggiu (nato in belgio da un padre italiano che faceva il pompiere) è stato processato con due capi d’accusa:
a) direct and public incitement to commit genocide (Art. 2 § 3 lit. c ICTR Statute)
b) crimes against humanity (persecution) (Art. 3 lit. h ICTR Statute)
Tra gravanti e attenuanti, Ruggiu ha ricevuto una condanna forse più mite del previsto per aver aiutato alcune vittime. Ruggiu si era dichiarato colpevole (potrebbe averlo fatto, suggerisce questo articolo apparso nel 2000 sull’Independent, per evitare che il tribunale acquisisse e facesse ascoltare in pubblico le registrazioni delle sue trasmissioni). In seguito aveva deciso di non fare appello alla sentenza.
a) Aggravating circumstances: the particularly serious nature of the infractions, the central role played by the Accused, due to his capacity as producer at the RTLM, in the unfolding of the massacres in Rwanda.
b) Mitigating circumstances: the fact that he pleaded guilty, his cooperation throughout the proceedings, the absence of any criminal record, his easy to influence character, his regrets and remorse, the fact that he had played a hand in saving a few Tutsi children, the fact that he neither belonged to the Rwandan ruling elite nor to the decision making body of the RTLM, and finally the fact that he had not participated directly in the massacres.
Sulla pagina di Radio Netherland dedicata a “Radio Odio” trovate un breve spezzone audio dalle trasmissioni di Milles Collines.
