By David Himbara
The show trial of my brothers Frank Rusagara and Tom Byabagamba has made me take a harder look at myself. To be sure this was a show trial. The term “show trial” dates back to what became known as “the Great Purge” or “the Great Terror” in the old Soviet Union. The Great Terror was a campaign of political repression in Soviet Union in 1936-1938 period, involving a large-scale purge of party carders, government officials, repression of rural populations, as well as the military ranks. This was a period of widespread police surveillance, suspicion of “saboteurs,” imprisonment, and arbitrary executions. It is estimated that between 600,000 and 1.2 million innocent people were murdered by Joseph Stalin’s Soviet regime. FULL STORY
