The Paris Court of Appeal approved, Wednesday, June 3, the transfer of the Rwandan businessman Félicien Kabuga, accused of being the "financier" of the genocide in Rwanda, to the Mechanism for International Criminal Courts (MTPI ), the structure responsible for completing the work of the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda (ICTR). 

"The court orders the surrender of Félicien Kabuga to the Mechanism of International Criminal Courts (MTPI)", said the investigative chamber of the Paris Court of Appeal, holding that his state of health was not incompatible with his transfer.

The International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda (ICTR) has five charges against Félicien Kabuga in the genocide in Rwanda, which killed at least 800,000 people, Tutsis and moderate Hutus, between April and July 1994. It is accused of genocide, complicity in genocide, direct and public incitement to commit genocide, attempted genocide, conspiracy to commit genocide.

A degraded state of health  

87-year-old Félicien Kabuga, who denies all the accusations against him, was arrested near Paris on May 16 after 26 years on the run.

>> Also read: Arrest of Félicien Kabuga: France, a land popular with alleged Rwandan genocidaires

The UN prosecutor's office has requested his transfer, but his lawyers believe that the octogenarian would not be subject to a fair trial by this court based in The Hague in the Netherlands and in Arusha in Tanzania and would risk to die in detention due to a fragile state of health. 

Genocide in Rwanda: the alleged financier Félicien Kabuga in the hands of international justice

The defense of the octogenarian, who wants him to be tried in France, can still appeal to the Court of Cassation after this decision.

In a letter addressed to Serge Brammertz, ICTR prosecutor, the defenders of Félicien Kabuga call on him to leave this file in the hands of French justice.

With AFP and Reuters 

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