The alleged “financier” of the 1994 Rwandan genocide, Félicien Kabuga, will begin his trial in The Hague on September 29accused of genocide and crimes against humanity, announced this Thursday a judge of the UN.
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Kabuga, who was one of the most wanted fugitives in the world, was arrested in May 2020 near Paris, after 25 years on the run, and transferred to The Hague.
He is accused of having participated in the creation of the Interahamwe Hutu militias, the main armed forces of the 1994 genocide that caused 800,000 deaths according to the UN, especially among the Tutsi minority.
“The court orders that the trial begin at the Hague branch with opening arguments on September 29 and testimony beginning on October 5,” said Judge Iain Bonomy of the International Residual Mechanism for Criminal Tribunals.
Wearing a dark suit, black tie, and white striped shirt, the octogenarian listened intently through headphones. He was brought to the room in a wheelchair.
The court orders that the trial begin at the Hague branch with opening arguments on September 29 and testimony beginning on October 5.
Initially, he was scheduled to appear before the Arusha court, which has a branch of the International Criminal Tribunals Mechanism (MTPI), but the judges decided that he should remain in The Hague.
His lawyers tried to stop the process for health reasons, but the judges estimated in June that he was fit to stand trial.
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Bonomy specified that the defendant will appear “three times a week for two hours each day.”
Kabuga is being held in the court’s detention unit, a few kilometers away.
He will be allowed to attend the hearings via video conference if necessary, the judge said.
Kabuga listened motionless, but told Bonomy that he wanted to change lawyers when asked if he wanted to address the court.
Kabuga spent years on the run
His lawyer, Emmanuel Altit, declared his client not guilty at his first appearance in The Hague in November 2020.
Kabuga faces six charges, including one for genocide and three for crimes against humanity: persecution, extermination and murder.
The UN claims that 800,000 people were killed in Rwanda in 1994 in a 100-day massacre that shocked the world.
Kabuga, an ally of Rwanda’s then-ruling party, allegedly helped create the Hutu militia group Interahamwe and the Free Radio-Television of a Thousand Hills (RTLM), whose broadcasts incited killing.
RTLM also identified Tutsi hideouts, according to prosecutors in the indictment.
More than 50 witnesses will appear at trial.
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Prosecutors claim that Kabuga controlled the content of RTLM broadcasts and gave orders, incited, conceived, facilitated and did not take action to prevent these hate messages.
He is also accused of having contributed to the massive purchase of machetes that were distributed to the militiamen, under orders to kill Tutsis.
In July 1994 Kabuga took refuge in Switzerland before being expelled, then temporarily moved to Kinshasa. In 1997 he was located in Nairobi, but managed to escape from an operation to arrest him, and another in 2003, according to the specialized NGO TRIAL.
According to the French authorities, he also lived in Germany and Belgium. The United States had offered a $5 million reward for his capture.
AFP
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