French journalist Maria Malagardis is on Thursday, January 19, set to appear in court over a complaint by Aloys Ntiwiragabo, 74, one of the suspected masterminds of the 1994 Genocide against the Tutsi in Rwanda, something that baffles rights activists.
According to France-based Collectif des Parties Civiles pour le Rwanda (CPCR) which has worked, for nearly three decades to see Genocide suspects living in France brought to book, Malagardis, Africa manager at the newspaper Liberation, refered to Col. Ntiwiragabo, a spy chief during the 1994 Genocide, as an African Nazi and he sued for defamation.
The French journalist is the author of a book, Sur la piste des tueurs rwandais [On the Trail of Rwandan Killers], that tells the story of CPCR’s effort in tracking genocide fugitives in the European country.
Ntiwiragabo who, among others, arranged meetings that planned massacres during the 1994 Genocide, was also co-founder of the genocidal FDLR militia based in DR Congo.
READ ALSO: Genocide suspect Aloys Ntiwiragabo's extremist network exposed
In a press release, CPCR president Alain Gauthier again posed several questions regarding the mysterious case of Ntiwiragabo. Among others, the CPCR still poses: "What support has he been able to benefit from to continue to live incognito on French territory?”
"It is therefore this gentleman, Aloys Ntiwiragabo, probably on the wise advice of his lawyers whom we have already met during trials at the Paris assizes, who dares to file a complaint ‘for public insult’ against Maria Malagardis, who would have called him an ‘African Nazi’.
"Hopefully, this move can expedite the legal proceedings against him, as the CPCR filed a genocide complaint in February 2022.”
In July 2020, a French newspaper exposed the link between Ntiwiragabo and a well-entrenched network of extremists there who share the same genocide ideology. Earlier, after seven months of careful investigation, French journalists found Ntiwiragabo, hiding in Orléans, a city in north-central France.
READ ALSO: Top Genocidaire, founder of FDLR militia found in France
At the time, information indicated that his sphere of influence stretched 240 kilometers away to Rouen, capital of the northern French region of Normandy, where he is key player in an anti-Rwanda government extremists' network. For the latter’s activity there, Rouen earned the infamous tag of the "European capital of genocidaires," as reported by an online publication, Le Poulpe.
In 1993, Ntiwiragabo was head of military intelligence (G2) and deputy chief of staff of the genocidal army.
He allegedly took part in daily Genocide planning meetings of the staff of the then Rwandan armed forces, and also availed a police station in Kigali to Interahamwe militiamen to torture, rape and execute the Tutsi.
In July 1994, when many genocidaires fled to Zaire (now DR Congo), Ntiwiragabo was one of them. In 1996, he moved to Kenya. Later, it is reported, he took refuge in South Sudan, until he later arrived in France where he remains holed up.
In August 2020, Kigali hoped that relevant authorities in France would respond positively, arrest and extradite him. Nothing happened.
READ ALSO: Rwanda seeks extradition of Genocide suspect Aloys Ntiwiragabo
At the time, after his whereabouts were confirmed, Kigali updated his case file – up to 25 witness accounts pinning him in his role in the massacres nearly 29 years ago were recorded – and subsequently sent an international arrest warrant and an extradition request to France.