
Audio By Carbonatix
Rwandan genocide fugitive Felicien Kabuga is due to appear before a Paris court on Tuesday, three days after French police swooped on his hideout in a Paris suburb, ending a 26-year manhunt.
The 84-year-old is accused of funding militias that massacred around 800,000 people. He was indicted in 1997 on seven criminal counts including genocide, all in relation to the 1994 Rwanda genocide.
At Tuesday’s hearing, which is procedural, the court will set out the legal process before passing the case to investigative judges who will decide whether to hand Kabuga to a U.N. court handling alleged crimes against humanity.
At least one France-based genocide victim support group said it was considering legal action to unearth how Kabuga was able to go underground in France and what help he had received.
“He was our Klaus Barbie, our (Adolf) Eichmann,” said Etienne Nsanzimana, president of support group Ibuka France, referring to two prominent Nazi war criminals.
“How did he stay on the run for 26 years? For how many years was he in France and receiving help to live comfortably. I don’t think it was just his family,” Nsanzimana added.
Reuters has not been able to find any public comment made by Kabuga over the years about the charges. French lawyer Emmanuel Altit, who will be defending Kabuga, did not respond to a request seeking comment from his client.
Rwanda’s two main ethnic groups are the Hutus and Tutsis, who have historically had an antagonistic relationship and fought a civil war in the early 1990s.
Latest Stories
-
‘I never did this advert’, AI clones hijack Ghanaian identities for profit
14 minutes -
25-year-old woman battles trauma after surviving deadly Nkwanta attack
30 minutes -
Vice President honoured at Tortsogbeza as South Tongu leaders highlight development needs
39 minutes -
Kwahu Business Forum 2026: Corporate citizenship, sustaining African businesses take centre stage with KGL as the case study
2 hours -
Trump seeks $152m to reopen notorious Alcatraz prison
4 hours -
Ex-Chelsea player Oscar retires with heart issue
4 hours -
CA Foundation drives constitutional literacy in Kpone Katamanso municipality
4 hours -
GPRTU to hold talks with Transport Ministry over rising fuel costs
4 hours -
CUTS International urges gov’t to halt sachet water price hike pending cost review
4 hours -
Chief Justice: Efficient Judiciary essential to reducing business costs
5 hours -
Bayern grabs 99th-minute winner to cap superb fightback
5 hours -
Ahmed Ibrahim urges Ghanaians to reflect Easter values in nation-building
5 hours -
ECG inefficiencies undermining power supply -Mahama outlines reforms
5 hours -
Lewandowski scores as Barca fight back to defeat Atletico
5 hours -
Lack of private sector consultation undermining economic growth – Jerry Ahmed Shaib
5 hours