Rwanda: Court condemns four anti-vaxxers to 6 years in jail

A Rwandan court condemned four women to a six-year imprisonment each for not accepting vaccines, terming it disobedience of the enforcement of law.

The quartet convicted of inciting the public against health mandates in their village. Court sentenced each to six years in prison

A single Judge at Nyagatare Intermediate Court in the Central African Country decided the case on January 9, 2024, in the absentia of the accused after a single hearing on January 3, 2024.

Also read: Rwanda: Advent preachers face 14-year-jail case

The court said that the women who preached to fellow residents in early September 2023 were guilty of inciting others to undermine the safety and effectiveness of Covid vaccines and other health mandates to which the four pleaded not guilty.

“Edith Ngendahimana, Genevieve Nikobahoze, Elisabeth Tuyigane and Esther Mukamazimpaka incited the masses to resent vaccines and the national health insurance scheme, an act that comprises the crime of disobeying the enforcement of the law,” the court said Tuesday.

During the hearing, the four referred the court to the message on the brochures they distributed which “called upon fellow residents to repent as a way of preparing for Jesus’ Second Advent” and not vaccines.

They asked the judge to have testimonies from the village mates who were around when the women were sharing the Word of God with fellow residents, claiming that the two testimonies the prosecution read were from strangers and not enough for the truth the court needed.

The four uneducated Rwandan rural women who neither have the skills to mobilize a channel for their message have been found guilty of the offense of inciting the masses.

The women had been in custody for nearly four months when they first appeared before the court.

Since the inception of Covid vaccines, authorities have treated many people who escaped getting Covid vaccines with brutality including forced vaccination.

Also read:  Testimony of forced vaccination in Rwanda

Authorities don’t trust any religious gathering outside the well-monitored churches to prevent people from studying end-time prophecies and their application to present-day events.

Also read: Rwanda arrests 31 preaching end-times and Jesus’ advent

Currently, Faith Reporters counts hundreds who have been arrested while sharing what they know about Jesus’ Second Advent in family Bible studies or preaching to fellow residents.

Also read: A visit to the prisoners of conscience in Rwanda

In November 2023, a young man was beaten to death in the notorious transit center custody in Southern Rwanda after getting arrested in a group worshipping at the opening of Sabbath in a believer’s home.

Another middle-aged man is still missing after being rushed to the hospital in critical condition for being battered at the transit center while others are nursing wounds.