KIGALI, Rwanda — Rwanda’s highest court has rejected an appeal by an opposition politician who was convicted for organizing an illegal gathering, inciting ethnic division and threatening state security.

Bernard Ntaganda, a former leader of Rwanda’s PS-Imberakuri party, was not in court on Friday when the ruling was made to uphold his four year jail sentence. He was arrested in July 2010 and convicted in February 2011.

Ntaganda, a Hutu, was accused of describing the government of President Paul Kagame as Tutsi-dominated and then calling for a power-sharing agreement between majority Hutus and minority Tutsis. He denied all the charges.

He is the third opposition leader to be charged under the country’s stringent anti-genocide laws..