PARIS-(MaraviPost)-French police have nabbed 84-year-old key player in the 1994 genocide in Rwanda, Félicien Kabuga in the north-west of Paris.
French authorities disclosed this in a statement on Saturday, 16 May 2020.
According to report by The Guardian, Kabuga was part of the inner circle of the Rwandan government of Juvénal Habyarimana, the president whose assassination triggered the genocide.
Kabuga who had £4 million reward on his head together with former defence minister Augustin Bizimana and top-ranking military figure Protais Mpiranya were the three most significant suspects sought over the genocide that killed more than 800,000 ethnic Tutsis and moderate Hutus.
He was accused of creating the notorious Interahamwe militia and equipping it with the machetes used in the majority of its murders and in charge of the equally notorious Radio Télévision Libre des Mille Collines, which incited murder.
The businessman mogul had been living in Asnieres-sur-Seine north of Paris under a false identity for the last 23 years with the help of his children.
Commenting on the matter, chief prosecutor for International Residual Mechanism for Criminal Tribunals (IRMCT), Serge Brammertz has commended French police for bringing down Kabuga.
He has been quoted by BBC news saying: “The arrest of Félicien Kabuga today is a reminder that those responsible for genocide can be brought to account, even 26 years after their crimes.
“For international justice, Kabuga’s arrest demonstrates that we can succeed when we have the international community’s support”.
Kabuga is expected to stand trial at IRMCT upon completion of appropriate procedures under French law.