Felicien Kabuga, the Rwandan genocide suspect, has been deemed unfit to stand trial by judges at a United Nations war crimes court in The Hague.
Kabuga, who officials say is 88 but claims to be 90, had been living under a false identity and evaded capture for decades. He was arrested at his Paris home in May 2020 and extradited to The Hague, where he pleaded not guilty.
Although he went on trial in September last year, Kabuga refused to appear in court or remotely at the start of his trial. He has followed proceedings via video link from a wheelchair at the court’s detention centre.
The court put the trial on hold in March this year due to health concerns. “The trial chamber finds Mr Kabuga is no longer capable of meaningful participation in his trial,” a decision published on Wednesday by the court said.
The former businessman, who made his fortune in the tea trade, is one of the last suspects sought by the tribunal prosecuting crimes committed in the 1994 genocide when ruling Hutu majority fighters killed more than 800,000 minority Tutsis and Hutu moderates in 100 days.
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