NAIROBI, Kenya — A second U.S. defense lawyer said Wednesday he fears he too could be arrested in Rwanda on charges of denying the country’s 1994 genocide after trying to postpone a client’s trial at the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda.
Defense lawyers at the tribunal say they feel endangered after Rwanda arrested Peter Erlinder last month and may not proceed with their cases.
Erlinder, a professor at William Mitchell College of Law in St. Paul, Minn., was arrested May 28 while in Rwanda to help with the legal defense of an opposition leader. On Wednesday, American lawyer Peter Robinson said he postponed a trial earlier this month because he feared facing the same charges when traveling to Rwanda for his clients.
Erlinder doesn’t deny mass violence happened but contends it’s inaccurate to blame one side.
A Rwandan court is expected to rule today on whether Erlinder should be freed on bail.
The State Department has called for Erlinder’s release. Groups such as the International Criminal Defense Attorneys Association also have called for his release.
