Trial Chamber I of the UN-Tribunal convicted Renzaho on July 14, 2009 of genocide, as well as murder and rape as crimes against humanity and serious violations of Article 3 Common to the Geneva Conventions.
He was, however, acquitted of complicity to commit genocide. He was aggrieved by the verdict and immediately lodged an appeal.
Renzaho was found guilty of organizing an attack on the Sainte Famille church in which more than 100 Tutsis were killed, arming the notorious interahamwe militia, as well as failing to intervene when army tanks fired upon Tutsi houses causing multiple deaths.
He was the last official in Kigali capital after the entire government fled to south of the country in 1994. In spite of the collapse of the state, Renzaho remained at his post until the advanced pro-Tutsi, Rwandan Patriotic Front (RPF), gained victory.
He, then, fled into exile. Renzaho was arrested on September 26, 2002 in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) and transferred to the ICTR, where his trial began on January 8, 2007.
FK/ER/GF
© Hirondelle News Agency