Rwandan former police chief Laurent Bucyibaruta is 78 years old. If convicted of genocide and crimes against humanity by the Paris criminal court, Bucyibaruta will spend the rest of his life behind bars.
Laurent Bucyibaruta was police chief of the southern region of Gikongoro (since re-named Nyamagabe) at the time of the murder of thousands of Tutsis by their Hutu neighbours in Rwanda in 1994. He denies the charges.
Bucyibaruta goes on trial in France on Monday, accused of genocide, complicity in genocide and complicity in crimes against humanity.
The former regional police chief is accused of leading a group of local political, police and military figures, and of directing the 1994 bloodletting in the area.
Bucyibaruta is one of only a handful of Rwandans to go on trial in France over the genocide that saw an estimated 800,000 Tutsis and moderate Hutus perish in 100 days of slaughter.
He is the highest-ranking Rwandan official ever to be tried in France for his alleged part in the 1994 massacres. He has lived in France under court control since 1997.
Credit: rfi.fr
