Genocide of Tutsis in Rwanda: start of the trial of former prefect Laurent Bucyibaruta
Laurent Bucyibaruta, the former prefect of the province of Gikongoro is accused of having favored one of the worst massacres of the genocide, that of the Murambi school, which has since become a memorial.
Monique Mas/RFI
Text by: RFI Follow
2 mins
This Monday, May 9 opens in Paris the trial of the former Rwandan prefect Laurent Bucyibaruta.
A refugee in France since 1997, the former official will be tried for genocide, complicity in genocide and complicity in crimes against humanity.
This is the fourth trial in France against a Rwandan suspected of having had a role in the massacres which killed nearly 800,000 people between April and July 1994 in Rwanda.
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The trial, long postponed, should last two months and nearly a hundred witnesses must be heard.
Targeted since the year 2000 by a complaint, Laurent Bucyibaruta was for a time claimed by the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda, which finally relinquished in favor of French justice, not without underlining since the slowness of the latter.
Now 78 years old, the former prefect of Gikongoro province is accused of having favored one of the worst massacres of the
genocide
, that of the Murambi school, which has since become a memorial.
According to a survivor who filed a civil action, he ordered the security forces to gather Tutsi families in this school, promising them protection, water and food.
A few days later, between April 18 and 21, nearly 50,000 people succumbed to the guns, grenades, clubs and machetes of the killers.
Charges disputed by the former prefect
Since the start of the procedure, Laurent Bucyibaruta has contested these charges, and his lawyers will plead not guilty.
"
His defense is to say, 'I couldn't do anything, I was overwhelmed.'
But he was prefect, therefore responsible
, ”said Alain Gauthier, president of the collective of civil parties for Rwanda.
The hearings must last ten weeks, nearly one hundred witnesses must be heard.
Laurent Bucyibaruta faces life imprisonment for genocide, complicity in genocide and complicity in crimes against humanity.
In Rwanda, the government welcomed the opening of this trial during the last commemoration of the genocide last month.
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To read: Genocide of the Tutsis in Rwanda: Claude Muhayimana sentenced to 14 years in prison
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