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Rwandan court hears case of genocide suspect deported from Canada

Xinhua, December 2, 2016 Adjust font size:

A Rwandan who was deported from Canada last month appeared before court on Thursday to face multiple charges related to the 1994 genocide.

Jean Claude Seyoboka appeared in Rwanda's military tribunal in Kigali, where he faced charges of committing genocide, planning genocide, rape and murder as crimes against humanity.

The prosecution said the suspect had trained Interahamwe youth militia who committed genocide under his supervision and controlled road blocks in various parts of Kigali.

Prosecutors also alleged that in 1994, Seyoboka participated in the killing of Tutsis who had sought refuge at a former African languages school in Kigali and at Saint Paul and Saint Famille on separate occasions in April.

He is also said to have owned a gun and other weapons which he used to personally kill Tutsis.

At least 72 people died at the former language school in killings overseen by Seyoboka, the court heard.

Opening the hearing, the court agreed to prosecution request to quash the 19-year jail sentence earlier handed to Seyoboka in absentia by traditional Gacaca court, on grounds that the suspect is a former soldier of genocidal army.

However, the defence lawyer dismissed the prosecution allegations as baseless, arguing that the suspect was a student at the National University of Rwanda during the time the prosecution claims he committed the crimes. Endit