Paris court approves Kabuga extradition

A court in the French capital, Paris, has approved the extradition of Felicien Kaubga to a United Nations (UN) tribunal in Arusha, Tanzania, where he will stand trial.

The Rwandan businessman is accused of being the mastermind behind the Rwandan genocide of 1994.

The 84-year old was arrested in a Parisian suburb last month, ending a 26-year international manhunt for one of Africa’s most wanted men.

The International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda (ICTR) indicted him in 1997 on seven counts, including genocide and crimes against humanity.

However, the ICTR’s operations were handed over to another UN body, the International Residual Mechanism for Criminal Tribunals (IRMCT), in 2015, after its operations were closed.

The IRMCT handles any outstanding war crimes cases, and has been pressing for Kabuga’s extradition.

Kabuga denies all the charges against him.

His lawyers sought to have him tried in Paris because, they say, at the IRMCT, he will be subjected to a “political” trial.

Kabuga is expected to appeal against the decision for him to be handed over to the IRMCT, which is based in The Hague, The Netherlands, but has a branch in Arusha.

Photo: AFP