The accused, a Rwandan with French citizenship was arrested in France on June 22, 2007 after he was refused entry to the United States following the international arrest warrant issued by Rwanda in October, 2004. He is in the list of 93 people wanted by Rwanda for their alleged role in the 1994 genocide.
Rwanda wants him for his alleged participation in the genocide in the prefecture of Gitarama, central Rwanda. He was tried and convicted in absentia and sentenced to capital punishment in March 2003 by a Rwandan court. Capital punishment was abolished in February 2007 in Rwanda.
Jean-Marie Biju-Duval, Kamali's lawyer, hailed the Paris Appeal Court decision as it favoured his client.
The defendant, who was placed in detention after his arrest in June 2007, was released on August 14, 2008. He became a French citizen in 2002 and lives in the south-west of France where he teaches mathematics.
Diplomatic relations between France and Rwanda were broken in November 2006 following the arrest warrants issued against nine persons closely related to the current Rwandan President, Paul Kagame, due to investigation into the attack against the plane of former President, Juvénal Habyarimana, on April 6, 1994.
France alleges that President Kagame ordered the attack, a suggestion which is strongly refuted by Kigali. On 20 November, Rose Kabuye, Rwandan Director of Protocol, was arrested in Germany and then transferred to France where she was indicted for her alleged role in this attack. She was released under judicial supervision.
AS/PB/NI/GF
© Hirondelle News Agency