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By Mulengera Reporter
The International Residual Mechanism for International Criminal Tribunals (IRMCT) has confirmed the arrest in France of Rwandan businessman Félicien Kabuga who is accused of financing the Rwandan genocide.
Indicted by the United Nations International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda in 1997 on seven counts of genocide, complicity in genocide, direct and public incitement to commit genocide, attempt to commit genocide, conspiracy to commit genocide, persecution and extermination regarding the 1994 genocide against the Tutsi, Kabuga was arrested by the French Police “in a sophisticated, coordinated operation with simultaneous searches across a number of locations,” according to the IRMCT. He will now be tried for the genocide crimes after eluding security operatives for over two decades.
“Following completion of appropriate procedures under French law, Kabuga is expected to be transferred to the custody of the Mechanism, where he will stand trial,” said IRMCT in a statement.
Mechanism Chief Prosecutor Serge Brammertz said “the arrest of Félicien Kabuga today is a reminder that those responsible for genocide can be brought to account, even twenty-six years after their crimes.”
Brammertz added that cooperation was key in bringing to book those suspected of engaging in genocide crimes.
“Our first thoughts must be with the victims and survivors of the Rwandan genocide. Advocating on their behalf is an immense professional honor for my entire Office. For international justice, Kabuga’s arrest demonstrates that we can succeed when we have the international community’s support,” he said.
“This result is a tribute to the unwavering commitment of the United Nations Security Council, which established the Mechanism to continue the accountability process in Rwanda and the former Yugoslavia.”
ABOUT KABUGA & RWANDA GENOCIDE
- Aged 85
- Believed to have been one of the key financiers of the genocide
- Alleged to have trained and equipped the Interahamwe militia with machetes from China
- Accused of spreading hate through his RTLM radio station
- Expelled from Switzerland in 1994 but fled to DR Congo and later Kenya
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