- Title: Rwandan genocide accused Fulgence Kayishema appears in South African court
- Date: 26th May 2023
- Summary: CAPE TOWN, SOUTH AFRICA (MAY 26, 2023) (REUTERS) VARIOUS OF FORMER RWANDAN POLICE OFFICER, FULGENCE KAYISHEMA, IN CAPE TOWN COURT FOR EXTRADITION HEARING (SOUNDBITE) (English) NATIONAL PROSECUTING AUTHORITY (NPA) SPOKESPERSON, ERIC NTABAZALILA, SAYING: "I can confirm that Fulgence Kayishema, appeared at court 16 of the Cape Town Magistrates' Court today. He is facing five
- Embargoed: 9th June 2023 12:11
- Keywords: Fulgence Kayishema Rwanda extradition hearing genocide
- Location: CAPE TOWN, SOUTH AFRICA
- City: CAPE TOWN, SOUTH AFRICA
- Country: South Africa
- Topics: Africa,Crime/Law/Justice,Judicial Process/Court Cases/Court Decisions
- Reuters ID: LVA001540526052023RP1
- Aspect Ratio: 16:9
- Story Text:Former Rwandan police officer Fulgence Kayishema, accused of ordering the killing of some 2,000 Tutsis who were seeking refuge in a church during the 1994 genocide, appeared briefly in a South African court on Friday (May 26).
Kayishema faces five charges in South Africa, including two of fraud, said National Prosecuting Authority (NPA) Spokesperson Eric Ntabazalila.
The fraud counts relate to applications he made for asylum and refugee status in South Africa, where the NPA alleges he gave his nationality as Burundian and used a false name.
Kayishema was not asked to enter a plea at Cape Town Magistrates' Court, which adjourned the matter to June 2.
On the run for two decades, Kayishema was arrested on Wednesday (May 24) under a false name on a grape farm in Paarl, some 59 km (37 miles) from Cape Town.
He was a fugitive from justice since 2001, when the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda indicted him for genocide over his alleged role in the destruction of the Nyange Catholic Church in Kibuye Prefecture.
As he was being brought up from the dock on Friday, Kayishema told journalists he did not have any role during the violence of the genocide.
An estimated 800,000 ethnic Tutsis and Hutu moderates were killed during Rwanda's genocide, orchestrated by an extremist Hutu regime and meticulously executed by local officials and ordinary citizens in the rigidly hierarchical society.
Kayishema has been on the U.S. State Department's wanted list under the Rewards for Justice Programme, with a $5 million reward offered for his arrest.
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