afrol News, 5 July - Bernard Ntuyahaga, the former Rwandan military chief has been sentenced to 20 years in prison after he was proven guilty of murdering 10 Belgian peacekeepers in the early days of the 100-day long genocide in 1994 in Rwanda.

The Belgian court however acquitted the 55-year-old military chief of murdering the former Prime Minister of Rwandan, Agathe Uwilingiyimana.

The Belgian soldiers were murdered in the presence of Rwandan army officers thus prompting the withdrawal of the United Nations peacekeepers.

Belgian authorities had maintained that the genocide would have been contained had the UN troops were in the country.

The convicted Major was accused of removing the peacekeeping troops from the residence Mrs Uwilingiyimana while trying to protect her.

During the Rwandan genocide, it is reported that extremist Hutus slaughtered over 800,000 Tutsis and moderate Hutus.

Before the verdict, Mr Ntuyahaga said his faith remained in tact because he believed that truth will truimph over falsehood sooner or later.

Hi conviction followed that of four other Rwandans, including two Catholic nuns who were sentenced to between 12 and 20 years in jail for "aiding and abeting" the 1994 genocide.

Unlike other suspects of war crimes or crimes against humanity, Ntuyahaga surrendered himself to the Belgian authorities in 2004 for prosecution.

In April this year, Mr Ntuyahaga, refuted charges of murdering the Prime Minister and peacekeepers. However, he admitted being set up and that he was in the wrong place at the wrong time.

He accused others of trying to cover their faces and left him to pay for their actions. The former military chief boast of being the only courageous person to call spade a spade by saying exactly what he had seen.

He said on 7 April he went to the former Prime Minister’s house where he had come across white UN peacekeepers in difficulty. Major Ntuyahaga admits ordering soldiers to take the peacekeepers to Camp Kigali, the closest place to the UN post.

He had however denied pedalling rumours that Belgians were involved in the killing of the former Rwandan President Juvenal Habyarimana.

The former military commander was accused of supervising the killings on 7 April 1994, barely few hours after the plane of the former Rwandan President - Juvenal Habyarimana – was shot down, which fueled the genocide.

Mr Ntuyahaga’s forces were accused of brutally killing the UN troops who flew to Rwanda to protect Prime Minister Uwilingiyimanawere. This soured relations between Rwanda and Belgium. She was murdered as she prepared to deliver a speech calling for national unity on the radio.

The UN peacekeepers, who were accused of shooting down Mr Habyarimana’s plane, were said to be brutally massacred.

The former military commander is also accused committing mass murders, including five of his neighbours during the genocide.

By staff writer

© afrol News

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