16.09.09 - ICTR/NDAHIMANA - NDAHIMANA STILL IN DRC A MONTH AFTER HIS ARREST

Arusha, 16 September, 2009 (FH) - Grégoire Ndahimana, former Rwandan Mayor arrested more than a month ago in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) who is wanted by the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda (ICTR) to answer charges of genocide and crimes against humanity, is still in the hands of the Congolese authorities.

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The accused, former mayor of Kivumu commune, western Rwanda, was arrested in eastern DRC on 11 August.

"Contacts are still ongoing with the Congolese authorities for his transfer. That's all I can say for the moment", ICTR spokesman, Roland Amoussouga told Hirondelle Agency on Wednesday.

At the end of last month, one ICTR official, speaking under the cover of anonymity, had not excluded the possibility of a complaint against the DRC before the United Nations.

Usually, the transfer process is delayed only for accused apprehended in the West, where the arrests are followed by lengthy legal battles.

Ndahimana is notably prosecuted for the massacre of more than a thousand Tutsis who had sought refuge in the complex of the Catholic Church of Nyange (western Rwanda) in April 1994.

ER/MM/NI/GF

© Hirondelle News Agency