Genocide: Singer gets 15 years

2008-12-02 14:05

Arusha - A Rwandan singer-songwriter was sentenced to 15 years in prison by the Tanzania-based UN war crimes court on Tuesday for inciting the killings of ethnic Tutsis during the 1994 genocide.

Samuel Bikindi was convicted of "direct and public incitement to commit genocide" but acquitted of five other related charges.

The conviction stems from a speech Bikindi made in northwestern Rwanda in June 1994 calling on Hutus to kill Tutsis.

Prosecutors at the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda (ICTR) had called for a life sentence for the 54-year-old who rose to fame in Rwanda as a champion of traditional culture.

Bikindi had denied all charges against him during the two-year trial.

However, ICTR chief prosecutor Hassan Bubacar Jallow had said his music was a clear provocation for Hutu extremists to slaughter moderate fellow Hutus and minority Tutsis during the 100-day killing spree which claimed 800 000 lives.

- AFP