Another group of French judges here

KIGALI - Two French judges arrived in the country over the weekend to investigate a genocide fugitive residing their country, months after a similar group of Paris jurists conducted investigations on another set of suspects living in France. According to the France-based activist group, Collectif des Parties Civiles pour le Rwanda (CPCR), Judges Nicolas Aubertin and Brigitte Jolivet arrived in Kigali late Friday. The organization’s chief, Alain Gauthier said that the judges’ mission is to investigate the case of a former ex-FAR officer, Pascal Simbikangwa a top genocide fugitive who was previously arrested for travelling on forged documents. After his arrest, French authorities found out that Simbikwanga appeared on Interpol’s wanted list as a key Genocide suspect and chose to keep him under detention pending investigations. When contacted, Prosecution spokesman, Augustin Nkusi, confirmed the reports. According to reliable sources, the two jurists will today meet the head of Genocide Fugitives Tracking Unit in the office of the Prosecutor, John Bosco Mutangana. Just like the former First Lady, Agatha Kanziga Habyarimana who is also in France, Simbikwanga is accused of being a core member of the ‘Akazu,” an inner circle of the former ruling party members that largely planned for the Genocide against the Tutsi. He is accused of the crime of genocide and numerous crimes against humanity that he committed during the 100 day of human slaughter. At the time of Genocide, he was a top intelligence officer with FAR. The former ex-FAR officer is said to have been running a racket specializing in issuance of fake travel documents in Kenya, in the post genocide years, aiding his cohorts to flee into Western capitals. Previously, two other senior investigative judges, Michele Ganascia and Fabienne Puos from the Paris Court of Higher Instance visited the country to investigate cases of Genocide fugitives. France is home to many suspected genocide perpetrators, some already indicted by both the Rwandan government and the ICTR. Ends

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Another group of French judges here