Genocide conviction overturned
2009-11-16 18:11
Arusha - A UN court has overturned a 20-year sentence faced by the former Rwandan president's brother-in-law for organising a massacre during the country's 1994 genocide.
Judge Theodor Meron on Monday ordered the immediate release of Protais Zigiranyirazo, an influential member of the Rwandan government during the genocide and relative of former President Juvenal Habyarimana.
In 2008, Zigiranyirazo was convicted of organising a massacre in which hundreds of Tutsis died.
Zigiranyirazo, 71, stood in disbelief in the courtroom on Monday.
The judge said the Trial Chamber committed serious errors in the 2008 conviction and sentencing.
The International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda has convicted 39 people and acquitted seven.
- SAPA