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Rwandan academic handed life sentence for role in 1994 genocide

A prominent Rwandan academic has been convicted of genocide and handed a life sentence, reports the Washington Post.

Leopold Munyazakazi was convicted by a court in the south of Rwanda on Friday and will be held under solitary confinement according to the verdict.

An ethnic Hutu, Mr Munyakazi was accused of playing a key role in the 1994 genocide in which over 800,000 Tutsis, and some moderate Hutus, were massacred.

Having fled Rwanda in 2004, Mr Munyakazi taught at a college in Baltimore, USA until he was suspended in 2008 following his indictment by the Rwandan government.

He was deported to Rwanda last year, having lost court appeals to avoid extradition, arguing that he faced torture and would not get a fair trial since the country had a Tutsi-led government.

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