One of the alleged masterminds of the Rwandan genocide would not face trial, UN appeals court judges in The Hague have said.
The accused, Félicien Kabuga, is not fit to stand trial because of his dementia, the Appeals Chamber of the UN tribunal in charge of war crimes committed in Rwanda in 1994 ruled.
A request by the prosecution to reassert Kabuga’s capacity to stand trial was rejected.
Kabuga is alleged to have financed the Rwanda genocide.
He was detained in Paris in 2020 after more than 30 years on the run.
In June, the UN judges decided that Kabuga lacked the capacity to stand trial.
However, they ruled that the trial should continue without the accused to determine his guilt.
But no sentence was to be imposed.
The defence appealed against this decision and won the case.
Justice could only be achieved through honest trials, “in full respect of the rights of the accused.”
Judges noted that this verdict would be disappointing for victims and survivors of the crimes.
Kabuga is reported to be in his late 80s or early 90s, his precise date of birth is unclear.
The elderly Rwandan is one of the last suspects accused of the genocide.
During the massacre, which lasted about 100 days, Hutu militias murdered at least 800,000 people, mostly members of the Tutsi minority.
Hundreds of thousands of people were victims of sexual violence.
According to the indictment, Kabuga had financed a Hutu militia and equipped it with weapons such as machetes.
He had also founded a radio and TV station which had called for the massacres of the Tutsi minority.
At a first appearance in court, Kabuga had rejected the charges as “lies.”
