Rwanda - war crimes court

Butcher of Gitarama misses first day of war crimes trial

Article published on the 2009-11-09 Latest update 2009-11-09 18:16 TU

Callixte Nzabonimana missed the opening day of his trial

The former Rwandan government minister Callixte Nzabonimana skipped the opening day of his trial at the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda (ICTR) in Tanzania on Monday.

Nzabonimana, who served as youth minister in the mainly Hutu government during Rwanda's 1994 genocide, stands accused of genocide, complicity to commit genocide and direct and public incitement to genocide.

Prosecutor Paul Ng'arua told the UN-backed tribunal that Nzabonimana enjoyed "authority and influence" over local militia and police who killed several people, including children, on his orders, calling him "the Butcher of Gitarama" - the accused's native region of Rwanda.

A member of the presidential party during the killings, the National Republican Movement for Democracy and Development (MRND)  prosecutors say Nzabonimana took part in a plan to eliminate Rwanda's Tutsi minority and opposition Hutus.

Defence lawyer Vincent Courcelle-Labrousse denied his client was involved in the killings and said he was "not a politically powerful man."

Earlier this month, judges sentenced former Rwandan presidential aide Michel Bagaragaza to eight years in jail for complicity to commit genocide.