Rwanda genocide suspect Félicien Kabuga has been arrested in France.
Kabuga was the most wanted of 11 genocide suspects sought by the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda (ICTR), with a $5 million bounty hanging over his head.
The fugitive was arrested in an apartment in Asnieres-Sur-Seine, near Paris where he was living under a false ID.
The 84- year old is accused of perpetrating crimes against the Tutsi community in the 1994 Genocide in an ugly onslaught that claimed the lives of 800,000 people.
The United Nations International Criminal Tribunal has been pursuing Kabuga for 25 years over crimes he is accused of perpetrating. He fled his country as soon as inquests began into the figures behind the genocide and evaded arrest in Kenya in 1998 when ICTR raided a house rented by his nephew in Nairobi.
UN prosecutor said Saturday that Kabuga’s arrest is a “reminder” that genocide suspects will face justice.
“The arrest of Felicien Kabuga today is a reminder that those responsible for genocide can be brought to account, even 26 years after their crimes,” said Serge Brammertz, chief prosecutor of the Mechanism for International Criminal Tribunals in The Hague.
A note was found by those leading the manhunt indicating that Kabuga had been tipped off of by the Kenyan police.
The former Chairman of the Fonds de Défense Nationale is believed to have rallied rogue media to incite ethnic Hutus to murder Tutsis to advance his personal agendas.
He is also accused of bankrolling militia to do his bidding. He also provided weapons, transport and uniform.
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