A court in Kenya has order the freeze of assets amounting to Ksh 50 million belonging to Rwandan genocide fugitive, Mr Felicien Kabuga.

High Court Judge, Justice Muga Apondi, on Tuseday granted orders to the Director of Public Prosecution (DPP), Mr. Keriako Tobiko to procede and serve the Kabuga with notices of the intended procedings pending the mentioning of the case on July 29.
Among the properties listed before the court are the Spanish Villas in Nairobi's upmarket Kilimani area which investigators believe jointly belong to Kabuga and his wife, Ms Mukazitoni Josephine.

A report detailing the ownership of the properties points out that on January 26 Kenya Trust Company Ltd was appointed as managing agents of the property and is responsible with collecting rent on behalf of Kabuga.

The report further confirms that Kenya Trust Company was to remit quarterly a total of 290,000 French francs to an account in Belgium.

Addressing the court, Tobiko said: "We believe part of or these proceeds are being used by the criminal fugitive to avoid capture and evade justice as he has always shown."

The ICTR last year claimed that it had managed to trace and freeze about US$6,8 million in property and business belonging to Felician Kabaga traced in European capitals.

Similar efforts to have his accounts seized were defeated when his wife filed a case in a French court. The argument made is that "the sums sequestered are their property and not Kabuga's, and cannot materially have been derived either directly or indirectly from the alleged crimes" for which he is sought. "In law there are absolutely no criminal solidarity between members of the same family whatever the family ties," a lawyer representing Kabuga"s wife argued. He called for the order to be lifted or that the family is allowed to withdraw money for their sustenance.

"This should put an end to the technique of pressure and harassment designed to force the family to reveal the place where Kabuga is hiding or at the very least, to force him to give himself up. As effective as this method may be, it is not based on any principles of international law and at most can be likened to a form of torture," the lawyer argues.

The motion fails to address the question of how the court is to distinguish between Kabuga's assets and those of his young family who could not possibly have been in a position to acquire any possessions unrelated to his businesses. Nevertheless, the judges of the appeals chamber did agree with the family lawyer. In their decision on the matter, the judges ordered the matter to be heard by ICTR courts in Arusha. "Any ruling that affects the liberty or property of individuals must be considered by the courts; the judges have the responsibility of revisiting the effects of the prosecutor's actions. The Kabuga family has a right to revise the prosecutor's decision," their ruling stated.

And in the Tuseday ruling, Judge Apondi ruled that the investigation on his dealings shows the bank account and transactions belonged to Kabuga and his wife manintaing that although he was presumed innocent until proven guilty, he should be subject to the due process of law.

However, documents obtained from the Commercial Bank of Africa indicated that Kabuga's account at the bank has been closed.

The court further directed the High Court's deputy registrar to keep the file containingn the evidence in safe custody fearing that the fugitive would corrupt court orderlies.

Kabuga, a wealthy businessman and a genocide suspect, has a $5million (Sh310 million) bounty on his head issued by the US State Department for allegedly masterminding and bankrolling the 1994 genocide Rwanda where 800,000 were killed.

He has been on the run since the International Criminal Tribunal indicted him for genocide with 17 other Rwandans and a warrant issued for his arrest.
The ICTR has in numerious occassions accused Kenya for habouring the fugitive and for refusing to hand him over to the tribunal for justice. Last year, Kenya foreign Affairs minister Raphael Tuju, refuted claims that Kabuga was in the country.