The Genocide Survivor’s umbrella and Collectif des Parties Civiles pour le Rwanda (CPCR), has disclosed that the case of Wenceslas Munyeshyaka, a priest accused of genocide and crimes against humanity will be returned to Paris Court.
The France-based group dedicated to pursuing justice in relation to the Genocide against the Tutsi, says that it has information Palais de Justice – Law Courts in Paris will re-examine the evidence given about Priest Wenceslas on November 8th, 2017.
In October 2015, a French court dismissed a case against Wenceslas Munyeshyaka that accuses the priest of genocide and crimes against humanity, citing lack of sufficient evidence.
Following the dismissal two years ago, CPCR states that it decided to appeal so that the case should be brought back to court.
Father Wenceslas Munyeshyaka (born 30 July 1958) is a Rwandan priest working in France who was convicted of genocide by a Rwandan military court.
Munyeshyaka was pursued in the French courts but in October 2015 the case was not continued because of the quality of the evidence.
Despite the controversy and his Rwandan conviction, he has been employed as a priest in France since 2001.
Munyeshyaka was responsible for the Sainte-Famille church and parish in Kigali. A military tribunal in Rwanda found him guilty of rape and involvement in the 1994 genocide and sentenced him in absentia to life in prison.
It is alleged that he was found to have delivered hundreds of adults and children to the genocidal militias, which brutally slaughtered them. The military tribunal accused Munyeshyaka and found him guilty of rape and of aiding militias in the killing of hundreds of Tutsi at the Holy Family Cathedral in downtown Kigali, where he was the head priest.
An ICTR arrest warrant was made public on June 21, 2007.
He was arrested in France on July 20, 2007, but released by a French Appeals Court on 1 August 2007.
A revised indictment was released by the ICTR on August 13, 2007, upon which he was re-arrested by French authorities on 5 September 2007.
On November 20, 2007, the ICTR decided to decline jurisdiction over this affair in favour of the French judicial authorities.
On February 20, 2008, the French authorities agreed to try Wenceslas Munyeshkaya in France.
On August 26, 2015, French prosecutors asked for the case against Wenceslas Munyeshyaka to be thrown out.
On October 2, 2015, the investigating French judge ordered the dismissal of the case in accordance with the Prosecutor’s request.
