First Genocide trial opens in Sweden

A SWEDE of Rwandan origin went on trial yesterday on charges of taking part in the killings of tens of thousands of people during the 1994 genocide against the Tutsi, the first such case in the Nordic country.Stanislas Mbanenande, 54, is charged with genocide and crimes against international law and faces up to life in prison if convicted.He allegedly took part in massacres between April 12 and June 30, 1994 that left about 1 million people dead.The indictment describes Mbanenande as having taken an informal role as a lower-level leader among those who sympathised with, or came to sympathise with, Hutu extremism.It also states that his leadership status was borne out by the fact that he possessed an automatic firearm, which he is said to have fired into crowds.Mbanenande allegedly murdered or recruited young men to take part in massacres.He was ordered to stand trial in Sweden after Stockholm was unable to comply with a request to extradite him to Rwanda, where he has been given a lifetime sentence in absentia, due to the fact that he obtained Swedish citizenship in 2008.He has denied all charges following his arrest in December last year under an international arrest warrant. Mbanenande has been in Sweden since 2007, when he joined his family and obtained a residency permit on family reunification grounds.The trial is expected to take several months and will move to Rwanda for a few weeks to hear witnesses. Agencies

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First Genocide trial opens in Sweden