JURIST - Paper Chase: Kenya prosecutor urges court to freeze assets of Rwandan war crimes suspect

[JURIST] Kenyan Chief Prosecutor Keriako Tobiko Tuesday asked the country's high court to freeze the assets of wealthy Hutu businessman and Rwandan war crimes suspect Felicien Kabuga [Trial Watch profile; ICTR materials]. Kabuga is accused of funding Rwandan militias that killed more than 800,000 ethnic Tutsis and moderate Hutus in the 1994 Rwandan genocide [BBC backgrounder]. Tobiko said that Kabuga has been using the money from his Kenyan estate to avoid capture, assist other fugitives, and interfere with prosecution witnesses at the genocide trials before the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda (ICTR) [official website].

Kabuga has been on the run since 1997, when he was indicted by the ICTR for crimes against humanity. The previous government of Kenya is accused of providing protection for Kabuga, but the country has since pledged to arrest him if he is found. The US has also offered a $5 million bounty for Kabuga's capture. AFP has more. From Kenya, the Nation has local coverage.

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