The trial chamber “found that the defense has not established that Kabuga is currently unfit to stand trial”, indicates the decision, while Félicien Kabuga’s lawyers had in May 2021 asked for the prosecution of their client to be stopped. due to his state of health.

Arrested on May 16, 2020 in the suburbs of Paris after 25 years on the run, Félicien Kabuga is notably accused of having participated in the creation of the Hutu Interahamwe militias, the main armed arms of the 1994 genocide which killed more than 800,000 people according to the UN. , mainly within the Tutsi minority.

87 years old according to the court, Mr. Kabuga is currently detained in The Hague, awaiting his trial before the Mechanism for International Criminal Tribunals (MTPI), responsible for completing the work of the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda. (ICTR).

Various experts participated in the establishment of the file for the court, which “unequivocally demonstrates that Kabuga is in a vulnerable and fragile state”, noted the MTPI.

The opinions of independent forensic experts interviewed diverged on Mr. Kabuga’s fitness to stand trial, but “their opinions agree that he has had repeated acute health incidents which would necessarily render him unfit for a any given time,” the court said.

The accused requires “intensive medical care and supervision”, and is currently residing in a prison hospital “in light of his need for 24-hour nursing care”, he said.

The judges conceded that the question of Mr Kabuga’s fitness to stand trial had not been “easy to decide” and recommended that his condition be constantly monitored.

It is “in the interest of justice to open this trial as soon as possible, which means proceeding to the branch in The Hague”, specified the MTPI.

The specialized care that Mr. Kabuga will probably need is “not present in Arusha specifically (where the other branch of the court is located, editor’s note) or nearby”, specified the decision.

Former president of the Radio Television Libre des Mille Collines (RTLM), which broadcast calls for the murder of the Tutsi, Félicien Kabuga is indicted by the MTPI in particular for “genocide”, “direct and public incitement to commit genocide” and ” crimes against humanity (persecutions and extermination)”.