Pregnant British mum-of-two arrested in Rwanda for ‘spreading state secrets and forming a militia to undermine the president’
Violette Uwamahoro disappeared on February 14 after travelling to the capital Kigali for her father's funeral
A PREGNANT mum detained in Rwanda for more than a month has appeared in court accused of spreading state secrets and raising a militia against the president.
British national Violette Uwamahoro, wife of exiled opposition activist Faustin Rukundo, vanished on February 14 in the capital Kigali after travelling there for her father's funeral.
Relatives had no idea what had happened to her until police revealed on March 3 that she was in custody, according to human rights charity Amnesty International.
Amnesty said Ms Uwamahoro was initially refused access to lawyers and was not allowed to speak to her family for two weeks.
The Foreign and Commonwealth Office confirmed the pregnant mum-of-two was now "receiving consular support".
A spokeswoman said: "As soon as we were made aware of Ms Uwamahoro's disappearance we made contact with the Rwandan authorities and set out our concerns.
"We can now confirm that Ms Uwamahoro has access to a lawyer and is receiving consular support."
Ms Uwamahoro is charged with revealing state secrets, forming an irregular armed group, and offence against the established government or president, all of which she denies.
She will return to a Rwandan court on Monday after attending a bail hearing yesterday.
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Sarah Jackson of Amnesty International said: "Violette Uwamahoro was illegally held without access to lawyers or her family for more than two weeks.
"This is an unacceptable breach of Rwandan and international law.
"People who know her say that Violette is not involved in politics at all.
"Her husband believes that she is being targeted because of his political activities."
Mr Rukundo is an activist in the opposition group Rwanda National Congress and lives in exile.
The couple have been in the UK for a number of years and live in Leeds. Mr Rukundo was given nationality in 2014.
Rwanda's President Paul Kagame has been praised abroad for social and economic reforms but human rights groups say his administration has an iron grip on power.
Amnesty said Violette's arrest and other cases of arbitrary detention "seem designed to quell opposition voices in the run-up to the presidential elections in August."
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