16.01.15 - RWANDA/UGANDA – UGANDA EXTRADITES RWANDAN CHURCHMAN ACCUSED OF GENOCIDE

Arusha, January 16, 2015 (FH) – The Ugandan authorities on Thursday extradited to Rwanda an evangelist sought by his country for participation in the 1994 genocide.

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Jean-Paul Birindabagabo, now 58, is on the list of people sought by international police organization Interpol.

According to the Rwandan news agency ARI, this churchman was preaching under a false name in the Mpigi district of central Uganda.

Born in Rubavu in the Gisenyi prefecture of Rwanda, Birindabagabo lived in Sake commune, in the eastern Kibungo prefecture, in 1994.

Witnesses in Sake accuse him of having directed several attacks where Tutsis were killed, according to ARI.

According to one of the survivors, Callixte Kabandana, the evangelist also shot dead a Tutsi pastor who was praying with other members of his ethnic group who had taken refuge in a church.

Rwanda’s National Commission for the Fight against Genocide hailed this extradition.“We appreciate the efforts of the competent authorities, including the government of Uganda, to extradite the suspect Birindabagabo, the Commission tweeted.

Kampala has already handed over other Rwandan genocide suspects to Kigali.

RE/JC