Kenya rules Rwanda fugitive's assets to stay frozen
Source: Reuters
NAIROBI, June 30 (Reuters) - A Kenyan court ruled on Tuesday the assets of Felicien Kabuga, a fugitive wanted for financing Rwanda's genocide, should remain frozen until a U.N. court finishes the trials of those suspected of the 1994 massacre. In May, Kenya froze the assets of Kabuga, Rwanda's most-wanted man who has a a $5 million U.S. bounty on his head. His wife, Mukazitoni Josephine, objected to the ruling and applied to have the court order lifted. "I hereby dismiss the preliminary objection (from Mukazitoni)," Judge Muga Apondi ruled. "That means that the orders I made on May 6 are in force till further notice." Kabuga is wanted for financing the militias that butchered some 800,000 Tutsi and moderate Hutus over a span of about 100 days. The prosecutor at the Tanzania-based International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda (ICTR) has said Kenya has failed to act against Kabuga despite information by its own police force indicating he is in the east African country. The U.N. court says there is evidence Kabuga entered Kenya, applied for residency status, had his visa approved and opened a bank account. ICTR's main priority is to track down 13 remaining fugitives wanted for genocide, war crimes and crimes against humanity. The court, set up in 1997 to try the masterminds of the massacres, has convicted 32 people and acquitted six others. It was originally expected to complete all trials by the end of 2008 and had until 2010 to hear appeals before winding up. However, cases have spilt over and the ICTR says it is working hard to finish hearing evidence in all trials by the end of 2009. (Reporting by Humphrey Malalo; Editing by Helen Nyambura-Mwaura and Sophie Hares)
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