The dust has finally settled on a landmark ruling in Belgium of a longtime Genocide fugitive, Fabien Neretse. History had been made Thursday when a court found Neretse guilty based on a law that punishes Genocide that was passed in 2017. Several Genocide suspects have been tried in Belgium before, but it was on the basis of laws that punish war crimes and crimes against humanity. The ruling is a victory for many reasons; First, Belgium like France, is a hotbed of deniers of the 1994 Genocide against the Tutsi and harbours many Genocide suspects who took advantage of both countries’ reluctance to try Genocide cases, until recently. Like a pack of wolves, all major Genocide deniers flocked into Brussels to give support to one of theirs. They were all trying to outdo each other in selling their narrative that the Genocide against the Tutsi was an invention that never took place. A defence lawyer even went beyond himself when he declared that there had in fact been three Genocides, all committed against the Hutu. Others were more subtle when they tried to sell the idea of a double Genocide; one against the Hutu and another against the Tutsi. Now Genocide deniers have reason to fear that the floodgates of prosecutions are opening, not only in Belgium but in the whole of Europe where they have been living with impunity. It has been a long journey to bring Neretse to trial and it is a welcome coincidence that he was sentenced to serve 25 years in jail, the exact years that have passed waiting to be brought to justice. Patience, patience, patience.
