Rwanda opposition leader barred from election over past convictions | Rwanda

A Rwandan court has found the opposition leader and dissident Victoire Ingabire ineligible to run in the July presidential election because of previous convictions for terrorism and genocide denial.

A fierce critic of Rwanda’s long-ruling president, Paul Kagame, Ingabire spent eight years in prison before receiving a presidential pardon in 2018 that cut short her 15-year sentence.

She had asked the Kigali high court to allow her to contest the 15 July polls despite a legal ban on convicted candidates who have been jailed for six months or longer.

“The court finds that Ingabire’s request…