Rwanda Opposition Leader Ingabire Summoned to Court in Treason Case

Rwandan opposition figure Victoire Ingabire said on Tuesday evening that she has been summoned to appear before court on Thursday, June 19, 2025.

The development, which she disclosed in a post on X, has stirred speculation that the 56-year-old may soon be facing treason charges.

“Today, I was summoned to appear in court on Thursday, June 19, 2025. I am waiting for a formal letter with additional details,” Ingabire wrote.

Her summons follows queries raised by a High Court judge in Kigali during an ongoing trial of nine people accused of plotting to overthrow the Rwandan government through non-violent means.

The judge questioned why Ms Ingabire had not been included among the accused, despite her name surfacing repeatedly during testimony.

According to the prosecution, the accused–who include journalist Théoneste Nsengimana and opposition activist Sylvain Sibomana–were affiliated with Ingabire’s unregistered DALFA-Umurinzi party and received financial and ideological support to conduct regime change trainings.

The accused allegedly organised “Ingabire Day,” an annual event marking her time in prison.

During the June 17 hearing, the judge pressed the prosecution on its decision not to summon Ingabire, prompting the prosecution to say the law grants them discretion to determine whom to charge.

The judge responded by ordering Ingabire’s appearance for questioning.

Ingabire told the Nile Post on Wednesday that she would “be there at 9am”.

“The same charges as my comrades who are already on trial,” she said in response to what she is probably being charged with.

“Spreading rumours and attempting to overthrow the current government. Opponents in Rwanda are always accused of the same crimes.”

This legal escalation comes less than a year after President Kagame issued veiled threats in a national broadcast against unnamed dissidents who had received presidential pardons but continued political activism.

“There are those others you see walking around freely–those we pardoned from prison… You know them… But we’re coming for them,” Kagame said at the time, making a hand gesture resembling winding a clock.

“You know those wall clocks that need rewinding? We’re going to rewind them.”

According to BBC Gahuza, Ingabire’s international legal team believes she was the target of those remarks.

Ingabire, who is from the Hutu ethnic group, was first arrested in 2010 shortly after returning from exile in the Netherlands to contest that year’s presidential election.

At her first public appearance, she controversially called for national recognition of moderate Hutu who died protecting Tutsi during the 1994 genocide.

She was arrested shortly afterward and later sentenced to 15 years for threatening state security, genocide denial, and forming an armed group–charges she denies.

She served eight years in prison, five of which she says were in solitary confinement. The African Court on Human and Peoples’ Rights ruled in her favour, finding that Rwanda had violated her rights to freedom of expression and defence.

In September 2018, she was released by presidential pardon but has remained under travel restrictions. She has been unable to attend personal family events abroad, including the wedding of her son, the birth of her grandchild, and the illness of her husband in the Netherlands.

In March last year, she sought legal rehabilitation in hopes of contesting the July 15, 2024, presidential election. The high court denied her petition, further barring her from leaving Rwanda.

Speaking to the Nile Post in the run-up to the election, which she was again unable to contest, Ingabire reaffirmed her commitment to peaceful democratic struggle.

“I’ve no intention of giving up,” she said. “I decided to campaign for the establishment of democracy, rule of law and respect for human rights in our country and in the interest of all Rwandans.”

While she is not currently a defendant in the treason trial, prosecutors hinted in court that she and others could be investigated or prosecuted in future.

Whether she will be arrested when she appears in court on Thursday remains unclear.

By Nile Post.