Joseph Mugenzi, one of the wanted suspects of the Rwandan genocide, has been arrested in Netharland, the Dutch Police’s International Crimes Team announced Tuesday
The 71-year-old genocide suspect who claimed to be a former bank clerk and a pharmacy owner in Kigali in 1994 was arrested on Tuesday, the Dutch Police confirmed in an official document obtained by APA in Kigali.
Rwanda has requested for the extradition of Joseph Mugenzi for crimes committed against the 1994 Genocide against the Tutsi.
Reports indicate that the suspect has been living in the Netherlands since 2000 where he also assumed different roles in the opposition group in exile as the president of FDU-Inkingi, an unregistered political group that is known to openly deny the Genocide perpetrated against the Tutsi.
Mugenzi was tried and convicted in absentia by a Gacaca court for crimes of genocide.
He is, however, eligible for retrial, should he be extradited to Rwanda, it said.
According to the Dutch prosecution, the fugitive had been granted asylum in 2,000.
In 2013, the Dutch Immigration and Naturalization Service (IND) revoked the residence permit granted to him after the Dutch Ministry of Foreign Affairs issued an official message about him.
Rwanda had requested The Netherlands to handover several criminals, to account for their role in the 1994 genocide against the Tutsis that claimed over a million lives.
CU/abj/APA