Rwanda’s Justice minister Tharcisse Karugarama has welcomed a decision by a French court to extradite Claude Muhayimana, a Rwandan with French-Rwandan dual citizenship.
Muhayimana is accused of taking part in the 1994 genocide in Rwanda and crimes against humanity.
It is a remarkable gesture for France to have taken a step as the very first time a French court to agree that a genocide suspect should be extradited to Rwanda to face charges in a country a suspect allegedly committed the crimes, said Karugarama at a press conference in Kigali.
France has previously extradited Rwandan genocide suspects to the International Criminal Tribunal in Tanzania but refused to send anyone to Rwanda due to concerns whether the suspects would receive fair trials.
Muhayimana denies any role in the genocide in which 800,000 people, mainly Tutsis, died, and is planning to appeal the decision to extradite him, said his lawyer Geraldine Boitieux.
“Rwanda authorities accuse him of taking part in genocide and crime against humanity. And obviously he did not do it because he's from a mixed family, half Hutu and half Tutsi.”
She said her client would be happy to be judged by a French court or by the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda (ICTR) but not by a Rwandan tribunal.
We need your support
Sri Lanka is one of the most dangerous places in the world to be a journalist. Tamil journalists are particularly at threat, with at least 41 media workers known to have been killed by the Sri Lankan state or its paramilitaries during and after the armed conflict.
Despite the risks, our team on the ground remain committed to providing detailed and accurate reporting of developments in the Tamil homeland, across the island and around the world, as well as providing expert analysis and insight from the Tamil point of view
We need your support in keeping our journalism going. Support our work today.
For more ways to donate visit https://donate.tamilguardian.com.
