5 Rwandans to stand trial in Belgium for 1994 genocide

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Five Rwandans will go on trial in Belgium over their alleged role in war crimes and genocide in Rwanda in 1994, federal prosecutors said on Wednesday.

"This is the first time that a Belgian (criminal court) will have to deal with facts qualified as genocide crimes," the prosecutor's office said.

Four trials linked to the events in Rwanda were held in Belgium between 2001 and 2009, but the defendants faced only charges of war crimes.

But the criminal court in Brussels will "also have to rule on the crime of genocide" in the new cases.

"The five accused still benefit from the presumption of innocence," the prosecutor's office said in a statement.

It said pre-trial authorities last week ruled that the five appear in the criminal court "for acts committed in 1994 in Rwanda in connection with the genocide of Tutsis and the massacre of moderate Hutus."

The five were divided into two cases.

In the first, one defendant is referred to the court for murders and rapes; another for murders, attempted murders and rape; and a third for murders and attempted murders.

In the second case, one individual is referred for murders, and another for murders and attempted murders.