Denmark appeals court upholds extradition of Rwandan genocide suspect News
Denmark appeals court upholds extradition of Rwandan genocide suspect

The Eastern High Court [official website] of appeals in Denmark on Friday upheld [grounds for decision, PDF, in Danish] a decision that a Rwandan native and Danish national since 2014 can be extradited to face trial for crimes against humanity.

Wenceslas Twagirayezu is suspected of committing crimes against humanity in the 1994 Rwandan genocide. Twagirayezu was arrested in May 2017 [AP report].

In a press release [statement, in Danish] the court explained that it agreed with the trial court in Hillerød that the conditions of the Extradition Act were fulfilled in this case, and Twagirayezu will be extradited to his native Rwanda immediately to face trial.

An estimated 800,000 people were killed in just 100 days in the Rwanda genocide [BBC backgrounder] in 1994. After 24 years, those involved are still being prosecuted worldwide. The US convicted a man who lied about his participation in March last year [JURIST report] and sentenced him to 15 years followed by deportation. Two former Rwandan mayors were tried in Paris[JURIST report] on charges of war crimes and crimes against humanity.  In January 2016 the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda formally closed [JURIST report] after issuing 45 judgments.