Long-awaited Rwanda genocide trial begins regardless of suspect’s boycott

A U.N. tribunal in The Hague opened the long-awaited trial of one of many final distinguished suspects within the Rwandan genocide on Wednesday, regardless of his determination to boycott the listening to from his jail cell.

Felicien Kabuga, a former businessman and radio station proprietor, was captured in France in 2020 after a long time on the run. He is among the final suspects sought by a U.N. tribunal prosecuting crimes dedicated within the 1994 genocide, when ruling Hutu majority extremists killed greater than 800,000 minority Tutsis and Hutu moderates in 100 days.

“It is the understanding of the chamber that mister Kabuga is this morning well but has decided not to attend the hearing this morning either in person or via video link,” Judge Iain Bonomy stated. “The trial must proceed” with the opening assertion of the prosecutor, judges determined.

Kabuga is in his mid-to-late 80s, although his exact date of beginning is disputed. He was arrested in May 2020 in Paris between COVID-19 lockdowns and extradited to The Hague the place he has entered a not-guilty plea. During his extradition hearings in France he described the accusations in opposition to him as “lies”.

Prosecutors have charged the previous espresso and tea tycoon with three counts of genocide and two counts of crimes in opposition to humanity, primarily for selling hate speech via his broadcaster, Radio Television Libre des Milles Collines.

He can also be accused of arming ethnic Hutu militias.

According to prosecutor Rashid Rashid, Kabuga was a “wealthy and well-connected political insider” in Rwanda on the time of the genocide.

U.N. prosecutor Serge Brammertz instructed Reuters the trial’s opening would bolster worldwide justice.

“Even if it’s taken more than 20 years, justice can be still be successful and that justice can be done,” he stated