The alleged genocidaire Félicien Kabuga absent on the first day of his trial
Emmanuel Altit, Félicien Kabuga's lawyer in the hearing room of the Mechanism in charge of the latest cases of the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda.
The Hague, September 29, 2022. AFP - KOEN VAN WEEL
Text by: RFI Follow
1 min
Twenty-eight years after the genocide in Rwanda, the trial of the alleged "financier", Félicien Kabuga, started this Thursday, September 29 in The Hague, in the Netherlands.
The former businessman, now 87, is accused of having played an "important" role in the massacre which killed more than 800,000 people between April and July 1994, mainly among the minority Tutsi.
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His state of health "
is good
" but
Félicien Kabuga, who is still weakened
, preferred not to attend the hearing, either in person or by video, confirmed one of the prosecution lawyers.
This trial is highly anticipated
, and the prosecution has pointed out that it comes far too late, 28 years after the fact.
She intends to hold Félicien Kabuga to account for his crimes.
He may not have had to “
wield a gun or a machete
,” but he was the centerpiece of funding genocide propaganda, the prosecution charged.
More than 50 witnesses are expected to be heard
Considered at the time to be one of the richest men in Rwanda, he used his fortune to set up and run the infamous Radio-television libre des mille collines, RTLM which, at the height of the genocide, spread speeches of hatred against the Tutsis, 24 hours a day.
An excerpt from one of the broadcasts was shown during the trial.
We hear journalists compare the Tutsis to cockroaches that had to be exterminated.
The prosecution also cited witnesses who confirm how Kabuga financed and trained the Hutu Interahamwe militias, the main armed arms of the massacre.
From next Wednesday, October 5, the prosecution will present the evidence.
More than 50 witnesses are expected to be heard.
The trial resumes Friday morning.
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To (re) read:
Genocide in Rwanda: the underside of the hunt for Félicien Kabuga
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Rwanda
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