By RFIPosted on 15-01-2020Modified on 15-01-2020 at 23:09

French justice was examining this January 15 an appeal against the dropping of prosecution in the case of the attack on the plane of President Juvenal Habyarimana which marked the beginning of the Rwandan genocide in April 1994.

Judicial information for " assassinations and complicity in connection with a terrorist enterprise " had been opened in France in 1998, following a complaint filed by families of the French crew of the plane shot down in early April 1994,
with on board the Rwandan President Juvénal Habyarimana, and the Burundian President Cyprien Ntaryamira .

Two French counter-terrorism investigating judges decided to drop the charges a little over a year ago on December 21, 2018 , " in the absence of indisputable material elements ", according to the magistrates who also noted the “ largely contradictory and non-verifiable ” nature of the testimonies collected.

With this appeal examined on January 15, the families hope at least the reopening of the investigations. The lawyers for the civil parties would like in particular that the French justice system obtains a secret report from the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda dating from 2003. The investigative chamber of the Paris Court of Appeal will issue its decision at a later date.

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