Suspects fight Rwanda extradition

Four men have launched a High Court battle to halt extradition to Rwanda where they face mass murder charges.

All four are wanted in connection with the 1994 genocide in which 800,000 people were killed in 100 days.

Their legal team is seeking a judicial review of a City of Westminster Magistrates' Court decision that extradition can go ahead.

The men deny involvement in the Rwandan genocide and say they will not receive a fair trial in the African country.

The four men are Dr Vincent Bajinya, from north London, Charles Munyaneza, from Bedford, Celestin Ugirashebuja from Essex, and Emmanuel Nteziryayo, of Manchester.

Their legal team, including three QCs, said there had also been a failure to take account of crucial evidence.

The case is expected to be heard in December.

All four men have been in custody since December 2006 following the extradition request from Rwanda.

Rwanda tribunal

The four men, who were local government officials at the time of the genocide, face charges including genocide and crimes against humanity.

Violence erupted in the African country in 1994 after the Hutu President Juvenal Habyarimana's plane was shot down and ethnic Tutsi rebels were blamed.

As soon as the president's death was announced, killing squads began attacking Tutsis and moderate Hutus across the country.

Thirty people have been convicted of involvement in the killings at the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda (ICTR), based in neighbouring Tanzania.

Until last year a number of European nations were reluctant to extradite Rwandan genocide suspects because they would have faced the death penalty if they had been convicted.

But the Rwandan government has now scrapped the death penalty, opening up the way for extraditions.

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