KINSHASA (AFP) — The wife of detained Congolese rebel leader Laurent Nkunda has filed legal papers in Rwanda demanding his release, her lawyer Stephane Bourgon said Friday.
Speaking to AFP, Bourgon said Nkunda is being held by the Rwandan authorities "on no legal basis, in a secret location, with no access to his wife or family, and denied the basic right of access to a lawyer's services".
He added that, despite contacts in recent days with the armed forces, prosecutors, police, justice ministry and foreign ministry, he was unable to learn more about Nkunda's situation.
The request for Nkunda's release was filed with the civil court in Kigali after it was refused by the clerk of the military tribunal in the Rwandan capital, added Bourgon, a Canadian expert on international law.
Nkunda, who had led the Tutsi rebel group the National Congress for the Defence of the People (CNDP), was arrested by Rwandan forces on January 22.
His arrest in Rwanda was a dramatic turnaround, with Kigali accused only weeks earlier by Democratic Republic of Congo of backing the cashiered Congolese general.
Nkunda had claimed to be protecting local Tutsis from Rwandan rebels from the Democratic Forces for the Liberation of Rwanda (FDLR), some of whom participated in the 1994 genocide in neighbouring Rwanda.
He accused Kinshasa and pro-government Mai Mai militia of backing the Rwandan rebels, while the Congolese authorities in turn accused Kigali of backing Nkunda.
Nkunda's wife is worried by rumours that her husband will be extradited to Congo, Bourgon said, adding: "We are exploiting all means possible to block his extradition because he will not get a just and fair trial in Kinshasa."
"What's more, the Democratic Republic of Congo is a country where the death penalty remains in place."
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