Verdict in France: 24 years in prison for doctor from Rwanda for genocide
His lawyers immediately announced their intention to appeal. The former gynecologist, who has lived in the southwest of France since 1994, has denied all charges. The public prosecutor's office had demanded 30 years in prison.
Munyemana is said to have been close to the Rwandan interim government, which had called for the mass murder of the Tutsi ethnic group in 1994. According to the prosecution, he had taken part in a meeting at which roadblocks were decided at which Tutsi were arrested in order to kill them later.
Munyemana also had the key to an office in which several members of the Tutsi ethnic group were locked up for days in undignified conditions before being killed. The accused, however, had stated that he had been a moderate Hutu and had not wanted to imprison those under threat, but to hide and save them.
Around 800,000 people were killed in the genocide in Rwanda between April and July 1994, most of them from the Tutsi ethnic group, but also moderate Hutu. The trial against Munyemana was the sixth trial in France against suspected accomplices to the genocide. Before the former doctor, six men - three high-ranking officials, a military officer, a gendarme and a driver - were sentenced in France to between 14 years and life imprisonment for their involvement in the genocide.
Also on Tuesday, two men from Rwanda were found guilty in a genocide trial in the Belgian capital Brussels. The 76-year-old Pierre Basabosé is said to have been one of the financiers of the Hutu militia Interahamwe in Rwanda, which played a central role in the genocide.
The 66-year-old Séraphin Twahirwa is said to have commanded an Interahamwe unit in Kigali, which is alleged to have committed dozens of murders. He is also accused of raping Tutsi women.
The two men have now been found guilty of war crimes and genocide. The sentence is to be announced soon. The men are facing life imprisonment.
Read also:
- This will change in December
- Attacks on ships in the Red Sea: shipping companies avoid important trade route
- Houthi rebels want to launch further attacks despite international coalition
- USA forms military coalition against Houthi attacks on ships in the Red Sea
- Despite the 24-year prison sentence in France for his involvement in the genocide, the lawyer for the convicted doctor from Rwanda has announced an appeal.
- The convicted doctor, a gynecologist who had lived in the southwest of France since 1994, was accused of being close to the Rwandan interim government responsible for the mass murder of the Tutsi ethnic group in 1994.
- In France, a total of six trials have been held against suspected accomplices of the genocide, with a former doctor being the latest to receive a sentence of 24 years.
- The former doctor, who had denied all charges and claimed to be a moderate Hutu, was accused of setting up roadblocks where Tutsi were arrested and later murdered.
- The public prosecutor's office in France had demanded a 30-year prison sentence for the gynecologist, who was also accused of having a key to an office where several Tutsi were locked up and later killed.
- The genocide in Rwanda, which took place between April and July 1994, resulted in the deaths of an estimated 800,000 people, mostly from the Tutsi ethnic group, but also moderate Hutu.
- In addition to the trial in France, two men from Rwanda were also found guilty in a genocide trial in Brussels on Tuesday, facing potential life imprisonment for their involvement in the mass murder of the Tutsi ethnic group.
- One of the men, Pierre Basabosé, was accused of financing the Hutu militia Interahamwe, which played a central role in the genocide in Rwanda, while the other man, Séraphin Twahirwa, was accused of commanding an Interahamwe unit responsible for dozens of murders and rapes of Tutsi women.
Source: www.stern.de
