Rwandan fugitive Felicien Kabuga denounces genocide charges as 'lies'

Wednesday, May 27, 2020 — updated on November 01, 2020 - 2 min read

Eric Emeraux, head of the Gendarmerie's Central Office for Combating Crimes Against Humanity, Genocides and War Crimes (OCLCH), diplays documents with a wanted poster depicting a photograph of Felicien Kabuga during an interview with Reuters at his office, about the arrest of Rwandan genocide fugitive suspect Felicien Kabuga, in Paris, France, May 19, 2020. PHOTO | REUTERS

What you need to know:

Kabuga was arrested in a Paris suburb on May 16. His lawyers told the court he should be released under court supervision because of his age and ill-health, and that the results of a DNA test used to identify him should be annulled as he had not given consent.

Paris. Rwandan genocide suspect Felicien Kabuga, has today May 27, told a French court that the international charges against him were all nothing but lies, New York Times reports
Kabuga has been indicted by UN prosecutors for genocide and incitement to commit genocide, among other charges. He is accused of bankrolling and arming the ethnic Hutu militias which killed 800,000 Tutsis and moderate Hutus over 100 days in 1994.
Asked if he understood the charges, Kabuga told the court through an interpreter: "All of this is lies. I have not killed any Tutsis. I was working with them."
Kabuga was arrested in a Paris suburb on May 16. His lawyers told the court he should be released under court supervision because of his age and ill-health, and that the results of a DNA test used to identify him should be annulled as he had not given consent.
The court's three judges, who are due to decide whether to transfer Kabuga to the international tribunal based in The Hague and Arusha, Tanzania.
Kabuga was too elderly and sick to be transferred and should be tried in France, his lawyers said.
"This court is just saying 'go and get judged elsewhere but not here'. It wants to hand him over him without consideration for his age and health, which could have irreversible consequences," defence lawyer Laurent Bayon told the court