Rwanda genocide suspect arrested
French police say they have detained a doctor wanted for war crimes in his homeland.
Court appearance
The AP news agency said Munyemana had been freed under judicial control after his arrest, meaning he must report to judicial officials until his appearance before a court that will decide his fate.
A French court rejected the doctor’s asylum request in 2008, ruling that there were “serious reasons” to suspect he was involved in crimes against humanity, a decision which Munyemana has since appealed.
His arrest comes weeks after Bernard Kouchner, the French foreign minister, travelled to Kigali, Rwanda’s capital, in the first high-level visit since Paris France and Rwanda agreed in November to resume diplomatic ties.
Rwanda broke ties with Paris in 2006 after a French judge issued warrants for nine officials close to Paul Kagame, the president, who were suspected of being implicated in the shooting down of the plane of a former Rwandan president.
That incident is considered to have triggered the start of the genocide, which saw the massacre of mostly ethnic Tutsis carried out by the majority Hutus.