The first trial at the ICTR was that of a bourgmestre, a local mayor, Jean-Paul Akayesu, a teacher and schools inspector who was sentenced to a life term in July 1998. For his appeal, Akayesu called on a Canadian lawyer, John Philpot,6 who shared his own ideas about events, believing the tribunal to be a product of US imperialism. Philpot argued that Uganda was at the root cause of everything, and had used the RPF to plot against, and seize, a Hutu country.
