Denmark frees 'genocide' man
2007-08-10 15:23
Copenhagen - A 51-year-old Rwandan man suspected of taking part in the killing of ethnic Tutsis in a 1994 genocide and held in custody in Denmark since September has been released, said a prosecutor on Friday.
It was unclear whether the unidentified man, a political refugee in Denmark, still would face charges.
Prosecutor Birgitte Vestberg said: "Despite our very thorough investigation, we have not been able to find sufficient evidence that the now-released Rwandan man was present during the massacre of 25 Tutsis."
The man who not named in line with Danish privacy laws, had claimed his innocence. Vestberg would "soon" decide whether formal charges should be pressed.
500 000 minority Tutsis killed
She said the probe began in January 2006, and investigators had been in Rwanda, Belgium, Canada and Switzerland.
Vestberg, head of the State prosecutor for special international criminal cases, said: "However, we must now say that we cannot produce enough evidence and therefore, the man has been released."
More than 500 000 minority Tutsis and politically moderate Hutus were killed during the 1994 genocide. Vestberg referred to a massacre, which took place in Gikondo, south of Kigali, the Rwandan capital, on April 07 1994.
It was the second time in Denmark that a refugee from the African country was arrested for alleged war crimes.
In 2000, war crimes suspect Innocent Sagahutu was arrested on an extradition request by the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda in the northwestern Tanzanian town of Arusha. He was later extradited to stand trial.
- AP