A Belgian Catholic priest detained in Rwanda accused of genocide crimes in 1994 is to be transferred home for trial, Rwanda's High Court has said.

Father Guy Theunis, who was arrested two months ago, denies the charges.

The priest is accused of reproducing articles from a Hutu magazine encouraging the killing of Tutsis.

He became the first foreigner to go before a village "gacaca" court, which referred him to face charges in a conventional court.


I am delighted and happy with the ruling
Father Guy Theunis

"The High Court has examined all this case and rules that the accused be relocated to his country to stand trial," High Court President Tharcisse Karugaram said.

Belgian officials earlier requested that the case be transferred to a Belgian court.

The Rwandan justice minister has yet to issue a written confirmation of the decision before the priest can be extradited to Belgium

Close ties

Father Theunis, 60, was detained at the airport in Rwanda's capital, Kigali, in September while on his way home to South Africa from the Democratic Republic of Congo.

"I am delighted and happy with the ruling," he told reporters after the hearing.

He worked as a missionary in Rwanda, a former Belgian colony, from 1970 until 1994.

During the 1990s, he edited a publication that republished extracts from Kangura, a militant Hutu magazine.

Kangura's editor Hassan Ngeze has been sentenced to life in prison by the United Nations War Crimes Tribunal in Arusha, Tanzania

Some members of the Catholic hierarchy in Rwanda had close ties to extremist politicians and aided Hutu militias in the run-up to the killings.

Some 800,000 Tutsis and moderate Hutus were slaughtered in the 1994 genocide and thousands of people were killed after seeking sanctuary in churches.

Story from BBC NEWS:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/go/pr/fr/-/1/hi/world/africa/4421558.stm

Published: 2005/11/09 14:42:18 GMT

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