Rwandan genocide trial suspended due to dementia
|News » Incidents
Trial of 1994 Rwandan genocide suspect has been postponed in The Hague.
< br /> Félicien Kabuga, 90, was due to stand trial after evading arrest for 26 years, but his lawyers say he has dementia and cannot be held accountable for his actions in court.
>
The International Criminal Tribunal has agreed to adjourn while assessing the defendant's health.
It is said to have funded ethnic Hutu militias that killed some 800,000 people.
Murders occurred in just 100 days.
It is alleged that he used his large fortune from the tea trade in the 1970s to buy a machete that used to arm Hutu death squads.
The wealthy businessman is also accused of using his radio station to convince Hutus to kill his Tutsi rivals, fomenting genocide, broadcasting inflammatory hate speech.
< br /> The defendant denied all charges.
Kabuga was arrested in 2020 after evading arrest for decades. French operatives tracked him to an apartment in Paris where he lived under an assumed name.
Genocide survivors have previously expressed concern that justice may not be served if Kabuga dies without facing a trial that was already expected to take years.
Follow us on Telegram