Rwanda genocide suspect Felicien Kabuga dies in custody at 93

Felicien Kabuga, one of the most prominent suspects linked to the 1994 Rwandan genocide, has died in custody in The Hague at the age of 93, according to the UN court handling the case.

The International Residual Mechanism for Criminal Tribunals (IRMCT) said Kabuga died in hospital on Saturday while awaiting transfer to a country that had agreed to receive him following the suspension of his trial.

Kabuga, a former businessman and media executive, had faced charges including genocide, conspiracy to commit genocide, incitement to genocide and crimes against humanity linked to the mass killings in Rwanda in 1994.

Prosecutors accused him of playing a central role in financing and supporting the genocide, in which more than 800,000 Tutsis and moderate Hutus were killed over a period of about 100 days.

He was also accused of backing the extremist broadcaster Radio-Television Libre des Mille Collines (RTLM), which prosecutors said aired propaganda and hate speech encouraging attacks against Tutsis.

According to the prosecution, Kabuga also helped arm Hutu militias, including by distributing machetes used during the killings. His defence team denied the allegations, arguing that he was primarily a businessman and had only a limited role in the radio station's operations.

After years on the run, Kabuga was arrested near Paris in 2020 using false identity documents following an international manhunt that lasted more than two decades.

He was later transferred to The Hague to stand trial before the IRMCT, the body established to oversee remaining cases from the UN tribunals for Rwanda and the former Yugoslavia.

In 2023, judges ruled that Kabuga was no longer fit to stand trial because of advanced dementia and deteriorating health. Proceedings were halted, although he remained in detention because no country had agreed to receive him.

The court said an inquiry had been ordered into the circumstances surrounding his death.

Kabuga had pleaded not guilty to all charges.