The Paris Assize Court delivered its verdict this Tuesday evening in the trial of Sosthène Munyemana. He was sentenced to 24 years in prison. While the prosecution had requested a sentence of thirty years of criminal imprisonment, Sosthène Munyemana had said a few words to defend himself one last time.
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This former Rwandan doctor was appearing for “genocide” and “crimes against humanity”. He was sentenced Wednesday by the Paris Assize Court to 24 years of criminal imprisonment, with a security period of 8 years, for his involvement in the genocide of the Tutsi in 1994. He was accused of having signed a motion of support for the genocidal government and having participated in the organization of the genocide in southern Rwanda.
The doctor was installed inFrance just after the genocide and a first complaint was filed against him in 1995. Then, in 2008, theRwanda had issued an arrest warrant against him, but the Bordeaux Court of Appeal refused to extradite him. It was only in 2011 that he was indicted in France. Yesterday, the prosecution requested a sentence of thirty years of criminal imprisonment.
“ You have two truly irreconcilable camps »
This Tuesday, December 19, in front of the jury, Sosthène Munyemana said a few words to defend himself one last time. With a calm face in front of the civil parties and a dozen lawyers, he claimed to have never pledged allegiance to anyone during the Tutsi genocide and to have sought to save lives.
“ With my neighbors and my colleagues, we opposed as best we could in the face of the unspeakable “, he declared in a calm tone, before expressing his compassion to the families of the victims. And to present himself as a victim by evoking the Tutsi exterminated within his in-laws.
For Simon Foreman, one of the lawyers for the civil parties, questioned by RFI before this verdict, the victims needed justice to decide between Sosthène Munyemana’s version and that of his clients. “ You have two really irreconcilable camps on what happened on this Tumba hillhe believes. You have a defendant who says that absolutely everyone lies. And you have people who have lost their entire family and who are also being accused of lying. »
The lawyer also recalled that around thirty cases were being investigated by the investigating judges. France was very welcoming to those responsible for the genocide in 1994-1995. So there will be more trials, that’s for sure.”.
Read alsoFormer Rwandan doctor tried in Paris for genocide and crimes against humanity