AFP, BRUSSELSA Brussels court on Thursday found a former Rwandan official guilty of genocide after hearing of his role in the 1994 massacres in the country. The 71-year-old agricultural scientist was also convicted of “war crimes” for 11 killings in Rwanda, under Belgium’s code of universal jurisdiction for the most serious offenses. Belgium has already held four trials and condemned eight perpetrators of killings in its former colony, but Neretse is the first defendant to be specifically convicted of the most grave charge, genocide. The jury cleared him of two of the Kigali killings, but found him guilty of 11 war crimes. Under a 1993 law, Belgian courts enjoy universal jurisdiction to prosecute genocide, war crimes and crimes against humanity regardless of where they take place.

Source: Taipei Times December 20, 2019 16:05 UTC