A French court sentenced Sosthene Munyemana, a former doctor from Rwanda, to 24 years in prison for his role in the 1994 genocide against the Tutsis.
On Wednesday, a 68-year-old ex-gynecologist was convicted of genocide, crimes against humanity, and taking part in a plot to commit these crimes.
According to his legal team, they intend to challenge the decision.
The prosecutor had requested a 30-year sentence, stating that the combination of his actions demonstrated characteristics of a genocidal person.
Munyemana was alleged to have assisted in creating a letter endorsing the temporary government, which promoted the slaughter of the Tutsi minority.
He was accused of assisting in the establishment of barriers to gather individuals and detaining them in cruel conditions at government buildings in Butare, a southern prefecture of Rwanda where he resided.
Throughout the trial, Munyemana continuously contested the allegations against him, asserting that he was a moderate Hutu who had actually attempted to “protect” Tutsis by providing them with “shelter” in government buildings.
In 2011, a court in France accused a man with three children of being involved in the genocide that took place in 1994.
Munyemana was close to Jean Kambanda, the head of the interim government established after the plane carrying then-president Juvénal Habyarimana was shot down by a missile in 1994.
Nearly thirty years after a complaint was lodged against Munyemana in the city of Bordeaux, the trial at the Assize Court in Paris took place.
This is the sixth instance in France of a suspected individual involved in the killings, where approximately 800,000 individuals, primarily Tutsis, were brutally murdered in a span of 100 days by Hutu soldiers and extremist groups, as reported by the UN.
France has served as a popular refuge for individuals involved in the Rwandan genocide who are evading punishment in their home country.
President Paul Kagame of Rwanda has accused Paris of being uncooperative in extraditing genocide suspects and bringing them to trial.
From 2014 onwards, France has prosecuted and found guilty six individuals, including a former head of espionage, two former mayors, and a former chauffeur from a hotel.
Source: theguardian.com
