U.S. Law Professor Arrested by Rwandan Government

by Julian Ku

The Rwandan government has arrested a U.S. law professor, Peter Erlinder, who represented key opposition figures. The NYT reports:

Rwandan authorities on Friday arrested an American lawyer who is representing a leading Rwandan opposition figure, the latest sign of an increasingly repressive atmosphere there.

Peter Erlinder, a law professor at William Mitchell College of Law in Minnesota, is being charged with denying the Rwandan genocide and was being interrogated Friday night at police headquarters in the capital, Kigali, Rwandan officials said.

I don’t know anything about this case, although the current Rwandan government has proven hypersensitive about allegations of their involvement in genocide, war crimes, or crimes against humanity.  Erlinder, through his defense of clients in Rwanda and in lawsuits in the U.S., seems to have made such allegations.  I would imagine he will be released very soon, but if he isn’t, this could further tarnish the Rwandan government. (Here is the statement from William Mitchell) (thanks to my colleague Eric Freedman for the heads up).

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May 29th, 2010 - 1:29 PM EDT | Trackback Link |

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3 Responses

  1. It would be unsurprising if Kagame’s government killed Erlinder and US administration failed to muster any serious protest against its darling, the main enabler of the coltan plunder in east Congo since 1994 for the benefit of the global communication industry.

    5.30.2010
    at 3:51 pm EST Aleksandar Jokic

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    5.30.2010
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