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Rwanda decisions
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The Court of Appeal reduced Kwizera Jean de Dieu’s sentence for cannabis trafficking to 17 years, holding that mitigating factors had not been fully considered.
The Court held that Ngiruwonsanga Ibrahim had already received the minimum custodial sentence permitted by law after mitigation (15 years), and thus no further reduction in imprisonment was possible. However, the fine could be reduced to 5,000,000 Frw in accordance with the amended law, which allows for reduction of fines to one quarter of the minimum statutory amount.
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The Court of Appeal found that the lower courts erred by convicting Habimana Antoine of drug trafficking without sufficient evidence of sale or intent to sell. The evidence established only that he transported cannabis from Nyabihu to Kigali, which constitutes the offence of transporting narcotics under Article 263 of Law Nº 68/2018. The sentence remains unchanged as both offences carry the same penalty.
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The Court of Appeal held that the appellant’s late-filed grounds of appeal were inadmissible and dismissed the appeal, leaving the 15-year sentence in place.
The alleged sentencing disparity is not a new fact as defined by Article 197 of Law Nº 027/2019. It does not constitute conclusive new evidence that was unavailable during the original proceedings and cannot serve as a ground for review. The application does not meet the legal requirements for admission.
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The Court of Appeal held that the conviction for murder was supported by sufficient circumstantial evidence, including witness testimony and phone records, despite the absence of medical or DNA evidence. However, as Hakizimana Vincent was a first-time offender, this constituted a mitigating circumstance justifying reduction of the sentence from life imprisonment to 25 years.
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The Court of Appeal found that Ntawiheba Jean de Dieu led a group that attacked Ufiteyezu Jean Bosco with a machete in the head, evidencing intent to kill, and trafficked kanyanga from Uganda to Rwanda. The sentence of 15 years imprisonment and a fine of 5,000,000 Frw was already mitigated below statutory maximums, and further mitigation was unwarranted.
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The appellants had already received the minimum sentence permitted by the new law following mitigation for their guilty pleas. The law prohibits further reduction or suspension of the sentence, and prior jurisprudence allowing lower sentences is superseded by the new statutory minimum. The appeal is therefore dismissed.
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The Court of Appeal upheld Hakizimana Vincent’s murder conviction, finding the circumstantial evidence sufficient despite no DNA or medical report, but reduced life imprisonment to 25 years.
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