The trial of Félicien Kabuga, alleged "financier" of the genocide in Rwanda in 1994 and one of the last main suspects of the massacre which tore the African country apart, opens Thursday, September 29 before a United Nations court in The Hague.
The former businessman, now 87, was in 1994 one of the richest in Rwanda.
He is on trial for having put his fortune and his networks at the service of the genocide which killed more than 800,000 people according to the UN, mainly among the Tutsi minority.
Arrested in 2020 near Paris after 25 years on the run, he is notably accused of having participated in the creation of the Hutu Interahamwe militias, the armed wing of the Hutu genocidal regime.
He was also president in 1994 of the infamous Radio Television Libre des Mille Collines (RTLM), which broadcast calls for the murder of Tutsi.
The trial is scheduled to begin at 10:00 a.m. before the International Residual Mechanism for Criminal Tribunals (the “Mechanism”), responsible for completing the work of the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda (ICTR).
It will begin with opening statements, which will be followed from October 5 by the presentation of evidence.
Félicien Kabuga is notably charged with genocide, direct and public incitement to commit genocide, and crimes against humanity, including persecution and extermination.
Purchase of machetes
Félicien Kabuga, who pleaded not guilty during a first appearance in 2020, is also suspected of having contributed in 1993 to the massive purchase of machetes distributed to militiamen in 1994.
His lawyers tried to avoid a trial in view of his state of health, but the magistrates considered that it was not incompatible with the trial.
At a preliminary hearing in August, he arrived in a wheelchair, weak.
His attendance in court on Thursday is uncertain as judges allow him to attend hearings via video link.
More than a quarter of a century after the genocide that shocked the world, the trial of Félicien Kabuga is eagerly awaited in Rwanda, particularly in his native village of Nyange, northwest of Kigali.
Born of farmer parents, he started as a small itinerant trader before becoming a wealthy businessman, owner of many tea plantations in and around the village.
"We are looking forward to this trial, which has taken a long time to arrive," Anastase Kamizinkunze, a member of the main association of genocide survivors in Rwanda, Ibuka, told AFP.
>> To read also: Félicien Kabuga contests all of the seven charges against him.
The prosecution will present more than 50 witnesses during the trial of Félicien Kabuga, one of the last key Rwandan genocide suspects to be brought to justice, after 62 convictions already handed down by the ICTR.
Others, like Augustin Bizimana, one of the main architects of the massacre, and Protais Mpiranya, former commander of the Presidential Guard battalion of the Rwandan armed forces, died without facing international justice.
With AFP
The summary of the
France 24 week invites you to come back to the news that marked the week
I subscribe
Take international news everywhere with you!
Download the France 24 app