A United Nations tribunal in The Hague on Thursday opened the genocide trial of a Rwandan businessman captured two years ago after decades on the run.
The judges said that the hearing must go on in spite of the suspect’s decision to boycott it from his jail cell.
Felicien Kabuga, a former businessman and radio station owner, was one of the last suspects sought by a U.N. tribunal prosecuting crimes committed in the 1994 genocide, when ruling Hutu majority extremists killed more than 800,000 minority Tutsis and Hutu moderates in 100 days.
Kabuga, “is this morning well but has decided not to attend the hearing either in person or via video link,’’ Judge Iain Bonomy said.
“The trial must proceed’’ with the opening statement of the prosecutor, the judges decided.
Kabuga is in his mid-to-late 80s, though his precise date of birth is disputed.
He was arrested in May 2020 in Paris between COVID-19 lockdowns and extradited to The Hague where he has entered a not-guilty plea.
The Prosecutors have charged the former coffee and tea tycoon with three counts of genocide and two counts of crimes against humanity, primarily for promoting hate speech through his broadcaster, Radio Television Libre des Milles Collines (RTLM).
He is also accused of arming ethnic Hutu militias.
U.N. prosecutor Rashid Rashid said in his opening statement that Kabuga did not need to wield a rifle or a machete at a roadblock. Rather, he supplied weapons in bulk and facilitated the training that prepared the Interahamwe (Hutu militias) to use them,’’
Rashid added that Kabuga had founded a radio station that “broadcast genocidal propaganda across Rwanda”.
Earlier, U.N. prosecutor Serge Brammertz told journalists after Thursday’s hearing that Kabuga’s no-show was a strategic decision from his side but said it would not affect the proceedings.
Because of Kabuga’s advanced age and fragile health the court will only sit for six hours a week, divided into two days.
Brammertz said the prosecution case will take several months.
“Time is essential here so we hope this trial can proceed as fast as possible, ‘’ Brammertz said.
The defense is due to make its opening statement when the trial resumes on Friday.