The court of appeal in Paris on Tuesday, on February 3, opened the appeal trial of genocide suspect Claude Muhayimana, who was convicted for his role in massacres of Tutsi civilians in the Bisesero area in Karongi District.

The appeal trial is expected to run until February 28.

In 2021, the Cour d’Assises de Paris convicted Muhayimana of complicity in genocide and complicity in crimes against humanity for acts committed in Bisesero between April and June 1994, sentencing him to 14 years in prison.

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Muhayimana appealed, challenging the verdict and seeking acquittal, and both the prosecution and the civil parties also filed appeals. He was released a year after his conviction and placed under judicial supervision pending the appeal trial.

Muhayimana, who worked as a driver during the 1994 Genocide against the Tutsi, was born in 1961, in Gitesi, in the former Kibuye Prefecture, now Karongi District. He moved to France in 2001, obtained French citizenship in 2010, and later worked as a municipal employee for the city of Rouen.

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On April 9, 2014, French police arrested Muhayimana, following a complaint filed by the Committee for the Protection of Civil Rights (CPCR).

On April 10, 2015, he was released and placed under house arrest pending criminal investigation.

His trial commenced on November 22, 2021, and concluded on December 16, 2021.