More charges to be brought against Rwandan fugitive Fulgence Kayishema

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 has been remanded in custody with more charges expected to be added. against him.

The 62-year-old Kayishema appeared briefly in Cape Town Magistrates court on Friday charged with two counts of fraud and three counts of transgression of the Immigration Act.

The court granted the state a seven-day postponement to continue with its investigation, as it seeks to add more charges against Kayishema.

Rwanda genocide

Kayishema, one of four remaining fugitives sought for their role in the 1994 Rwanda genocide, had been on the run since 2001, when the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda (ICTR) indicted him for genocide over his role in the destruction of the Nyange Catholic Church in Kibuye Prefecture.

Around 800 000 Rwandans, most of them ethnic Tutsis, were slaughtered over 100 days at the hands of Hutu extremists

Opposing bail

A specialised task team, comprising Interpol, the department of justice and home affairs, tracked Fulgence down, who was living on a Paarl farm using the false name Donatien Nibashumba.

National Prosecuting Authority (NPA) spokesperson Eric Ntabazalila said Kayishema the state was opposing bail.

“Advocate Nathan Adriaanse argued that the state will oppose the accused’s bail application for three reasons: ‘There is a warrant of arrest issued against the accused issued on 8 March 2019. He is seeking to be indicted on four charges which are genocide, complicity in the genocide, conspiracy to commit genocide, and extermination as a crime against humanity.’

“We are going to oppose bail as we intend to add more charges related to the Immigration and Refugees Act as more evidence was obtained during his arrest,” he said.

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Prosecution

Ntabazalila said Advocate Adriaanse also informed the court that a centralisation certificate will be obtained to prosecute Kayishema in Cape Town.

“The first two crimes were committed in Cape Town while the last three were committed in Paarl which would have necessitated the accused to appear at Cape Town Magistrates` Court and Bellville Magistrates` Court.

“The court agreed with the application and further ordered that the address where the accused was arrested not be publicised. The case was postponed to 2 June 2023, for further investigation,” Ntabazalila added.

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