An Interahamwe meeting was hosted at Felicien Kabuga’s residence after the plane crash in which former President Juvenal Habyarimana was killed, a new witness has told the International Residual Mechanism for Criminal Tribunals (IRMCT).

During a session that took place on Wednesday, the witness code-named KAB086 who was a resident of Kimironko during the Genocide against the Tutsi, said the meeting in question took place "at the roadblock near the lower fence of Kabuga’s house.”

She said she was informed about it by one Uwihoreye who was among those who participated in it.

She added that Uwihoreye told her that they had been asked to go collect weapons from Kabuga’s compound, but she refused to go.

Like other witnesses who testified earlier, KAB086 told the court about the support that the wealthy businessman rendered to the Interahamwe including buying them uniforms and organising parties for them.

The witness also told the judges about the atrocities that Kabuga’s group of Interahamwe did in Kimironko including targeting and killing Tutsis at the two roadblocks that were close to Kabuga’s residence.

Among those killed, KAB086 cited one Kalinijabo who was killed along with other members of his family and their bodies thrown into a pit.

On the morning of April 9, 1994, KAB086 also heard Kabuga’s Interahamwe talking about the killing of the family members of one Nyakana that happened the night before.

She said she overheard them talking about sending some men to Nyakana’s home to collect the bodies and dump them in a pit latrine.

KAB086’s father was also targeted by Kabuga’s Interahamwe who accused him of being "an accomplice to the Tutsi.”

Due to this, the witness’ father fled to Bumbogo where he sought refuge along with his son in law, a daughter and five children.

However, all of them were subsequently found by Kabuga’s Interahamwe and killed.

Kabuga, 89, was a wealthy businessman before and during the genocide.

He is charged with seven counts including: genocide, complicity in genocide, direct and public incitement to commit genocide, attempt to commit genocide and conspiracy to commit genocide.

Other charges include persecution and extermination – both as crimes against humanity.

He is said to have given direct support to Interahamwe in the form of weapons, money and moral encouragement.

He was also the founder of RTLM, a radio which is blamed for propagating hate towards the Tutsi in the run up to and during the Genocide.

Kabuga was arrested in May 2020 in Paris, France, putting an end on a 26-year manhunt for the man, who earned the nick-name ‘Financier of Genocide’.