Former Rwandan prefect Laurent Bucyibaruta sentenced in Paris for complicity in genocide

First modification: 07/13/2022 – 13:01

For RFI’s special envoy at the Palais de Justice in Paris, Amélie Tulet.

Laurent Bucyibaruta, 78, appeared free at his trial, which began in May. He left the courtroom escorted by French policemen, leaning on his cane.

The former senior official was found guilty on Tuesday, July 12, of “complicity in genocide” and “complicity in crimes against humanity.” The charges correspond to murders of Tutsis committed in Rwanda at the Murambi Technical School, in the Cyanika parish, in the Kaduha parish, at the Marie-Merci school.

The prosecution had requested life imprisonment on Friday. However, Bucyibaruta was acquitted as the perpetrator of the charges of genocide and crimes against humanity, in particular for the acts committed in the Gikongoro prison, a province where he was prefect, and in the Kibeho church, where tens of thousands are believed to have died. of people.

The Gikongoro region, located in southern Rwanda, was one of the hardest hit by the persecution of the Tutsi ethnic group, and it was there, according to the UN, that at least 800,000 people were killed.

“Did I lack courage?”

For Alain Gauthier, president of the Rwanda Civil Parties Collective, his acquittal for the Gikongoro Prison and Kibeho Parish murders is a real disappointment.

“Most of the victims were killed around that church. It is violent that they have not recognized his culprit in that massacre. We have other processes going on against other genocide figures,” he told RFI.

The Rwandan defendant addressed “the survivors of the genocide”. “I would like to tell you that it never occurred to me to abandon them to the murderers. Did I lack courage? I have been haunted by remorse for more than 28 years,” Bucyibaruta said.