The International Residual Mechanism for Criminal Tribunals will resume hearing the case of Genocide mastermind Felicien Kabuga, who was arrested in France, May 2020. Kabuga last appeared in the dock last year November 11, where he heard all his charges read during a live court broadcast. He will appear for a status conference at the Hague-based court, during which all parties in the case will meet and review the progress of the case ahead of the trial. “I hereby schedule a status conference before the full Trial Chamber on Tuesday, 1 June 2021 at 2.30 p.m. in the Courtroom of The Hague Branch of the Mechanism,” ruled Iain Bonomy, the pretrial judge. During the proceedings, Kabuga pleaded not guilty after he remained silent during his initial court appearance. However, based on his current condition and care regime, Kabuga “May choose to appear via video-teleconference link or waive his right to be present,” according to Bonomy’s ruling on the matter. Kabuga is currently in the custody of the Mechanism in The Hague since October 26 when he was transferred from France. He is charged with seven counts including five related to genocide; genocide, complicity in genocide, director and public incitement to commit genocide, attempt to commit genocide and conspiracy to commit genocide. Other charges are persecution and extermination, both as crimes against humanity. In April, this year, the mechanism posted a team of ten lawyers and investigators who stayed in the country indefinitely to work Kabuga’s case. IRMCT took over from the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda. Who is Kabuga? Kabuga, known as the Financier of the Genocide, was a wealthy businessman and the president of what was called the National Defence Fund from about April 25, 1994 to July 1994. A core member of the Akazu – a small circle of architects of the Genocide against the Tutsi, Kabuga was also the founding president of the board of shareholders of hate radio RTLM, known as a key enabler of the Genocide against the Tutsi. The radio regularly gave detailed information about the people to be massacred and where they could be found. Kabuga is charged with genocide, complicity in genocide, direct and public incitement to commit genocide, attempt to commit genocide, conspiracy to commit genocide, and extermination and persecution as crimes against humanity, in respect of the genocide. Until his arrest, Kabuga, who is now aged 85, was on the run since August 18, 1994 when the Swiss security services let him slip from their grasp. As the genocide progressed, Kabuga was reportedly given a visa to enter Switzerland. He was expelled from Switzerland in 1994, and spent some time in DR Congo – then Zaire – before seeking refuge in Kenya. He has, in the past, said to have escaped arrest in Kenya several times. Among others, in 1998, an ICTR team raided a Nairobi rented house and found a note indicating that the fugitive, who escaped arrest, had been tipped off by the police. He is accused of establishing the hate radio, RTLM, training and equipping the Interahamwe militia, among others. According to financial documents found in Kigali after the Genocide, he used his companies to import vast quantities of machetes from China.
