A former Rwandan regional official linked to the 1994 genocide was apprehended and formally charged by France this week, as reported by a source close to the case on Saturday.
Pierre Kayondo, formerly the prefect of the Kibuye region and a former MP, was arrested on Tuesday and subsequently charged with complicity in genocide and crimes against humanity, according to an anonymous source who provided the information to AFP. He is now in custody.
Since 2021, France has been conducting an investigation into Kayondo based on a complaint made by a victims’ association.
There were indications that he had chosen to live in the northern port city of Le Havre.
Over the course of 100 days, in which around 800,000 people, predominantly ethnic Tutsis, were tragically murdered, France has remained a prominent destination for fugitives seeking to avoid prosecution.
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President Paul Kagame’s Rwanda has, on certain occasions, criticized Paris for what it perceives as inadequate actions in pursuing justice and its unwillingness to extradite suspects.
France’s legal proceedings since 2014 have led to convictions for a former spy chief, two ex-mayors, a former hotel chauffeur, and a former top official, with an ongoing trial for a former military policeman.
Following the publication of a historians’ report in 2021, commissioned by President Emmanuel Macron and recognising France’s “overwhelming” responsibilities in failing to prevent the massacres, relations between the two countries have experienced a significant thaw.
According to the complaint filed by the Collective of Civil Parties of Rwanda (CPCR), Kayondo was accused of actively participating in the planning of massacres and assisting in the formation of armed groups.
CPCR co-founder Alain Gauthier expressed satisfaction that the ‘complaint was followed by the opening of an investigation and that justice took an interest in Mr Kayondo. It’s good.’