Audio By Carbonatix
Rwandan genocide suspect Felicien Kabuga, arrested this month after more than two decades on the run, told a French court on Wednesday that the international charges against him were lies.
Kabuga has been indicted by U.N. 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.
Latest Stories
-
Tech giant Oracle makes ‘significant’ job cuts
6 minutes -
Iran will play World Cup games in US – Infantino
17 minutes -
World Cup risks being ‘stage for repression’ – Amnesty
28 minutes -
Barcelona move difficult to turn down – Cucurella
37 minutes -
England beaten by Japan in final match before World Cup squad is named
49 minutes -
Newcastle not looking to make Howe change at moment – CEO
59 minutes -
Italy fail to reach third straight World Cup after penalty shootout loss to Bosnia
1 hour -
Fire at Ashaiman Tulaku brought under control
1 hour -
WFP, UK Govt push for fortified rice in school feeding to tackle child malnutrition
2 hours -
Tottenham Supporters’ Trust says it cannot support De Zerbi appointment
2 hours -
Gyokeres’ late winner fires Potters’ Sweden past Poland to World Cup
2 hours -
SIC MD denies political interference claims, admits SIGA only ‘encouraged’ state entities
2 hours -
Turkey beat Kosovo to reach first World Cup in 24 years
2 hours -
Tiger Woods had pills in pocket at crash scene, say police
2 hours -
Mahama to review IMANI petition on insurance sector concerns – Kwakye Ofosu
2 hours
