afrol News, 13 October - A Rwandan Hutu, Joseph Mpambara, who is facing multiple charges of rape and murder before a Dutch court, has pleaded not guilty to atrocities he allegedly committed during Rwandan genocide, 14 years ago.

Mr Mpambara, 40, is accused of being a member of Interahamwe militia. His case came to attention of Dutch authorities after his 1998 application for asylum was turned down.

Prosecutors in case argue that he took part in massacre of Tutsis at a church complex and hacking to death of seven people dragged out of an ambulance.

Mr Mpambara is being tried under a Dutch law that allows prosecution of war crimes committed overseas.

He was reportedly living in Netherlands when he was arrested in 2006.

Some 800,000 minority Tutsis and moderate Hutus were slaughtered by Hutu militias in just 100 days in 1994.

UN-backed International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda (ICTR) was set up in 1997 to try the most high-profile genocide cases.

Prosecution spokesman Wim de Bruin said ICTR, under pressure to finish its cases by the end of the year, had asked Netherlands to take on this case, media reports show.

By staff writer

© afrol News

Related pages and feature

Current afrol News Top Stories