Wenceslas Twagirayezu, the genocide suspect who was recently extradited from Denmark will appear before Kicukiro Primary Court for formal charging and hearing on pre-trial detention.
According to Harrison Mutabazi, the judiciary spokesperson, Twagirayezu will be appearing for the second time following his first appearance on December 27.
“Twagirayezu could not enter plea because at the time, he had not secured a lawyer so he requested for more time to procure a defence council which court obliged, adjourning the hearing to January 14,” Mutabazi told The New Times on Monday.
Twagirayezu, 50, was extradited to Kigali in December after his protracted battle against the decision that took him up to the European Court of Human and People’s Rights.
He stands accused of having participated in the mass killing and extermination of Tutsi, where together with others, attacked various places of former Rwerere Commune in the current Rubavu District, killing thousands, according to prosecution.
Among others, he is accused of commanding attacks on Busasamana Catholic Parish where more than 3,000 Tutsi had sought refuge and over 1,000 were murdered here, according to prosecution.
Twagirayezu, who witness accounts indicate openly carried a gun during the Genocide, is also being pinned on killings at Mudende University where more 1,000 Tutsi civilians had sought refuge and others at the Institute Saint Fidele where teachers and students were forced to board a bus and transferred to Nyundo where they were killed.
Twagirayezu is the second genocide suspect to be extradited from Denmark after Emmanuel Mbarushimana, who was extradited in 2014, something the prosecution says other countries should emulate.
He is currently detained at the special transit facility at Nyarugenge Prison in Mageragere, according to Rwanda Correctional Services (RCS).
The prosecution has guaranteed that rights in criminal proceedings would be fully observed in view of the suspect’s fair trial.
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