The alleged mastermind financier of the 1994 genocide against the Tutsi, Felicien Kabuga is scheduled to appear before the UN Tribunal in The Hague tomorrow, Wednesday 11 November 2020.
The International Residual Mechanism for Criminal Tribunals (Mechanism) that inherited cases from the International Crimina Tribunal for Rwanda (ICTR) announced yesterday that all was set for the initial appearance of Felicien Kabuga.
Pre-Trial Judge Iain Bonomy has instructed the prosecution to inform and avail Kabuga and his counsel on the trial readiness at the The Hague branch of the Mechanism.
“Allow Kabuga to either participate in the initial appearance in person in the courtroom of The Hague branch or via video conference link,” a statement from the Mechanism said.
Judge Bonomy said considering his health condition and as a precaution against Covid-19, Mr Kabuga (87) can opt to appear via a video -teleconference link.
The suspect was arrested in Paris, France, on May 16 this year, after being on the run for the last 25 years for his role in the genocide where over a million were killed.
Kabuga was first indicted by the now disbanded ICTR on 26th November, 1997 but it took more than a quarter of a century to be arrested. His transfer into the custody of the Mechanism was authorized by the French judiciary last September.
