UN judges declare elderly Rwandan genocide suspect unfit to stand trial due to dementia
Source: AP
By MIKE CORDER 2 hours ago
THE HAGUE, Netherlands (AP) — United Nations judges have declared an elderly Rwandan genocide suspect unfit to continue to stand trial because he has dementia and say they will establish a procedure to continue to hear evidence without the possibility of convicting him.
The majority decision published Wednesday by judges at the International Residual Mechanism for Criminal Tribunals means that no guilty verdict can be reached in the trial of Félicien Kabuga, one of the last fugitives charged over the 1994 genocide.
Medical experts who have been closely monitoring his health in a U.N. detention unit in The Hague say that the “consequences of dementia deprive Mr. Kabuga of the capabilities necessary for meaningful participation in a trial” and add that “he will not recover these capacities because his condition is characterized by progressive and irreversible decline.”
The 88-year-old is accused of encouraging and bankrolling Rwanda’s 1994 genocide. His trial began last year, nearly three decades after the 100-day massacre left 800,000 dead.
Read more: https://apnews.com/article/rwanda-genocide-kabuga-trial-dementia-f49f92513ef7f6ecbdefb993e4a86e23