|
On
the run for two decades, Kayishema was arrested on May 24 under
a false name on a grape farm in South Africa where, according to
a prosecutor, refugees working there gave him up.
He now faces 54 separate charges in South Africa relating to
fraud and immigration offences, up from five previously,
prosecutors spokesman Eric Ntabazalila said outside a Cape Town
court.
Kayishema had been a fugitive from justice since 2001, when the
International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda (ICTR) indicted him
for genocide for allegedly ordering the massacre of 2,000 people
hiding in the Nyange Catholic Church.
He denied any involvement during a court hearing on May 26,
though said he was "sorry" for the 1994 killings.
South Africa's National Prosecuting Authority (NPA) alleges that
Kayishema used a false identity to apply for asylum and refugee
status in South Africa. Kayishema has not responded in court to
the South African charges.
The case was adjourned to June 20 to allow Kayishema's defence
team to consult, at which point he could apply for bail.
Some of the local charges could see Kayishema imprisoned for up
to 15 years, said Ntabazalila.
Kayishema is also expected to face extradition to Rwanda to be
tried over the ICTR genocide indictment, but those proceedings
have yet to begin, Ntabazalila said.
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's arrest left only three fugitives indicted by the
international tribunal whose whereabouts remain unknown.
(Reporting by Wendell Roelf; writing by Nellie Peyton; editing
by Mark Heinrich)
[© 2023 Thomson Reuters. All rights
reserved.] Copyright 2022 Reuters. All rights reserved. This material may not be published,
broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
Thompson Reuters is solely responsible for this content.
|
|
