Rwandan radio broadcaster pleads not guilty to genocide charges News
Rwandan radio broadcaster pleads not guilty to genocide charges

[JURIST] Joseph Serugendo, the former technical director of a Rwandan radio station that promoted the 1994 Rwandan genocide [BBC backgrounder], pleaded not guilty Friday to five counts [indictment, PDF] of genocide and crimes against humanity at the UN-backed International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda [official website]. ICTR prosecutors allege that Serugendo "planned, instigated, ordered, committed or aided and abetted in the planning, preparation or execution of … crimes" that were part of the 1994 genocide which lead to the killing of over 500,000 members of Rwanda's Tutsi ethnic minority. Serugendo, who is also said to be a leader of the Interahamwe militia, was arrested in Gabon earlier this month and transferred to the ICTR [JURIST report] earlier this week. A trial date for Serugendo has not yet been set. Read the ICTR press release on Serugendo's not guilty plea. AP has more.