The Franco-Cameroonian political scientist and essayist, Charles Onana, was found guilty by the French courts of “complicity in public contestation of the existence of a crime against humanity, in this case a crime of genocide” against the Tutsis , in Rwanda.
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Charles Onana was targeted by the complaint from seven associations including Survie, the FIDH and the LDH, relating to around twenty quotes contained in his book Rwandathe truth about Operation Turquoise – when the archives speakpublished in 2019.
Its publisher Damien Serieyx was also found guilty of “ public contestation of the existence of a crime against humanity “. Both will have to pay a fine.
For French justice, Charles Onana has “ reduced “, ” trivialized ” And ” disputed ” of ” outrageous manner » the genocide of the Tutsis, which occurred between April and July 1994. According to the Court’s decision, it ” discredited » all court decisions « leading to the recognition of the existence of this genocide. »
The judgment still points out “ the overwhelming use of the term “genocide” – in quotation marks – in the work published by the Franco-Cameroonian, “ a process which contains in itself all the ambition of the author to implicitly deny the existence of the genocide of the Tutsis », According to justice.
Charles Onana was sentenced to 120 days fine of a unit amount of 70 euros – or 8,400 euros – which he will have to pay to avoid incarceration. Its publisher will have to pay a fine of 5,000 euros.
The defense lawyer, Maître Emmanuel Pire, said: disappointed » by this verdict. According to him, his client does not “ do not dispute the genocide » of the Tutsis in his book, but the “ put in context » of the time. At the end of this hearing, he announced that he would appeal this conviction on behalf of his client.
Also readGenocide of the Tutsis in Rwanda: at his trial, Charles Onana accused of “exceeding the limits of freedom of expression”