Beauty pageant suspended over rape scandal

The Miss Rwanda beauty pageant has been suspended after its organiser was charged with rape. As previously reported in Legalbrief Today, pageant organiser Dieudonné Ishimwe faces charges of rape, soliciting or offering sexual favours, and harassment. A report on the News24 site notes that Minister of Youth & Culture Rosemary Mbabazi confirmed that the Rwanda Investigation Bureau is investigating the matter. In Rwanda, rape carried a 15-year maximum sentence. President Paul Kagame last year called for harsher penalties for gender-based violence perpetrators.