Attorney: Erlinder likely to be released today in Rwanda
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After 10 days of being held in a Rwandan jail, a St. Paul attorney and activist will likely be released today, said his attorney.
A judge today will decide to release Erlinder, or release him on bail, or continue to detain him, his family said. The hearing was scheduled for this afternoon in the capital city of Kigali, or 9 a.m. Minnesota time.
But Erlinder's attorney said this morning he was optimistic about Erlinder's fate.
"All indications are that he will be released," said attorney Kennedy Ogetto before the hearing began.
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The Rwandan government has said it will consider freeing him on compassionate grounds because of concerns over Erlinder's mental health.
His daughter, Sarah Erlinder, says all she wants is her father to come home.
"At this point, I'll take him back under any circumstances. So if it's because they find him mentally ill -- OK," she said.
Erlinder, a professor at William Mitchell College of Law in St. Paul, has been charged with denying Rwanda's 1994 genocide and publishing articles that threaten the country's security.
He pleaded not guilty during a court hearing late Friday in Kigali.
But his supporters believe the government is targeting him because he is representing an opposition leader who is running for president from similar charges of so-called "genocide ideology." The election is in August.
