By Editorial
Lawyers representing Rwandan genocide suspect Fulgence Kayishema, who had been on the run for 22 years before his arrest last month, have told the Cape Town Magistrates’ Court that their client will apply for asylum on political grounds in South Africa.
It could delay his possible extradition to Rwanda for several years and significantly delay his trial on charges of genocide, complicity to genocide and crimes against humanity.
He is accused of directly participating in the killings as well as ordering the massacre on 15 April 1994 of 2,000 ethnic Tutsi people who were hiding in a Catholic Church in western Rwanda.
He was indicted in 2001 by the UN’s International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda, which has since closed, with his case being transferred to Rwanda for trial. END.