Hague trial of Rwandan genocide accused Felicien Kabuga scheduled

Felicien Kabuga, an alleged financier of the 1994 genocide in Rwanda, will be tried in The Hague on September 29 and charged with genocide and crimes against humanity, a UN judge said on Thursday.

Kabuga, once one of Rwanda’s richest men, allegedly helped set up hate media that urged ethnic Hutus to “kill Tutsi cockroaches” and funded militias.

Kabuga, now in his 80s, was arrested in France in May 2020 and handed over to a UN tribunal in The Hague, where he faces charges of playing a key role in the slaughter of 800,000 Tutsis and moderate Hutus.

“The Chamber orders the start of the process in the branch in The Hague with opening statements on 29 April 2009.

A frail-looking Kabuga wearing a dark suit, spotted black tie, and striped white shirt listened intently through headphones perched on his head.

Before that, he was wheeled into the courtroom.

Kabuga was originally due to appear in court in Arusha, where the other branch of the MICT is located, but the judges had ruled he would remain in The Hague “until something else is decided”.

In June, the judges dismissed an objection by the defense that Kabuga’s verdict was in fact up for trial.

Bonomy said Thursday the defendant would appear “three times a week for two hours each time.”

Kabuga is being held in the tribunal’s detention unit a few kilometers away.

He is allowed to attend the hearings via video link if necessary, the judge said.

“Routine is an important part of Mr. Kabuga’s life,” he said. “What is required will be done.”

Kabuga listened motionless, but told Bonomy he wanted to switch lawyers when asked if he would like to speak in court.

His current defense attorney, Emmanuel Altit, pleaded not guilty on behalf of his client at Kabuga’s first appearance in November 2020.

He faces six counts, including one count of genocide and three counts of crimes against humanity: persecution, extermination and murder.

The UN says 800,000 people were murdered in Rwanda in 1994 in a 100-day shooting spree that shocked the world.

Kabuga, an ally of Rwanda’s then-ruling party, allegedly helped found the Hutu militia group Interahamwe and Radio-Television Libre des Mille Collines (RTLM), whose programs incited people to murder.

The radio station also identified Tutsis hiding places where they were later killed, prosecutors said in the indictment.

More than 50 witnesses are expected to appear for prosecutors, who said it took them about 40 hours to complete their case.

Prosecutors said Kabuga controlled and promoted RTLM’s content and defended the channel when the information minister criticized the broadcasts.

Kabuga is also accused of helping buy machetes that were distributed to genocide groups and ordering them to kill Tutsis.

Kabuga later fled Rwanda and spent years on the run with a string of false passports.

Investigators say he was helped to evade justice by a network of former Rwandan allies.

After his arrest in a small apartment near Paris, his lawyers demanded that Kabuga, whose age the indictment now states is 87, should be tried in France on health grounds.

However, the French Supreme Court ruled that he should be placed in UN custody under an arrest warrant issued in 1997.