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France’s Supreme Court overrules transfer of Rwandan suspect

Thursday, 17 January 2008

France’s Supreme Court overrules transfer of Rwandan suspect

The Supreme Court of France has overruled a decision to transfer Dominique Ntawukuriryayo, a Rwandan genocide suspect, to an international tribunal in Tanzania, the suspect’s lawyer, Thierry Mausis, has revealed.

Dominique Ntawukuriryayo, who arrested the French town of Carcassonne last October, is accused by the International Criminal Tribunal for the African country of Rwanda of the co-ordinated killing of as many as 25,000 Tutsis in April 1994 at Kabuye Hill.

Dominique Ntawukuriryayo, who was born in 1942, had been a sub-prefect in the Gisagara area at the time of the genocide.

Thousands of Tutsis had gathered in the area on the understanding that they would be safe, which was anything but the case.

Philippe Greciano, lawyer for Dominique Ntawukuriryayo, had reportedly explained that the lower court hadn’t examined a "report outlining the various procedural steps allowing the indictee to defend himself".

The case against Dominique Ntawukuriryayo now goes back to a lower court, which will be asked to review it.

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