Kigali: London’s High Court has ruled out the extradition to Rwanda of four (4) men who are jailed in the United Kingdom to face justice for their alleged role in the 1994 Tutsi Genocide, RNA reports.

They are: Dr. Vincent Bajinya, 48 - who changed his names to Dr. Vincent Brown since securing asylum in Britain and worked for a refugee charity there; Mr. Charles Munyaneza, 51, former local mayor in Rwanda; Mr. Celestin Ugirashebuja, 56, former mayor; and Mr. Emmanuel Nteziryayo, a former local mayor.

Lord Justice Laws and Lord Justice Sullivan, sitting at London’s High Court, allowed their appeals against Home Secretary Jacqui Smith’s orders that they be extradited, the BBC reported this Wednesday.

The senior judges said there was evidence that defence witnesses were afraid to give evidence. They declared: “We conclude that if (the four) were extradited to face trial in the High Court of Rwanda, the appellants would suffer a real risk of a flagrant denial of justice by reason of their likely inability to adduce the evidence of supporting witnesses.”

The court ruling comes a day after the world commemorated the 15th anniversary of the Tutsi mass killings that left over a million people dead in a period of 100 days.

However, the four men who fled Rwanda after the 1994 genocide and were living in Britain until their arrest have denied their involvement in the genocide and say they would not receive a fair trial if they were forced to return to Rwanda.

The court also ruled denial for permission to appeal by Crown Prosecution Service to the House of Lords against their ruling and ordered the release of the four men. (End)

< Prev		Next >