French court upholds 14-year prison sentence of Rwandan former driver for genocide
The Paris Court of Assize Friday upheld on appeal a 14-year jail term for a Franco-Rwandan man for his role in the genocide against Tutsi ethnic group in Rwanda in 1994.
The court found Claude Muhayimana guilty of “complicity in genocide” and “complicity in crimes against humanity” during the genocide, according to a lawyer for genocide survivors.
Muhayimana, 65, was initially convicted of complicity in genocide and crimes against humanity during his first trial in 2021 and sentenced to 14 years in prison.
He, however, appealed the verdict leading to retrial which began early this month.
The appellate court held that Muhayimana, a former driver, was complicit in transporting and assisting Interahamwe militiamen who carried out massacres in western Rwanda's former Kibuye prefecture.
But Muhayimana claimed innocence during the trial.
The appeal trial opened on Feb.3. Both the prosecution and defense lodged appeals against the 2021 verdict.
While the defense sought acquittal, the prosecution on the other hand sought a heavier sentence.
On Thursday, during closing arguments, French prosecutors had requested an increased sentence of 15 years’ imprisonment on grounds that the crimes were grave.
Rwanda has indicted about 50 genocide suspects in France yet only about eight have been prosecuted, according to the umbrella body of genocide survivors' organizations in Rwanda known by its acronym as IBUKA.
The genocide against Tutsi in 1994 claimed about 1 million people, mostly of Tutsi ethnic group and moderate Hutus, who were massacred by the Interahamwe militias.
