Former Rwandan gynecologist Sosthene Munyemana has been jailed for 24 years by a French court for his involvement in the 1994 genocide of ethnic Tutsis.
ADVERTISEMENTSosthene Munyemana, 68, was found guilty of charges of genocide, crimes against humanity and helping to prepare a genocide. He will appeal the decision.
Munyemana has never been detained and remained free throughout the trial.
Munyemana, who moved to France months after the genocide and quickly raised suspicions among Rwandans living there, has denied any wrongdoing.
During the trial, Munyemana repeatedly disputed the accusations, claiming he had been a moderate Hutu who had instead tried to “save” Tutsis by offering them “refuge” in local government offices.
At the time, Munyemana was a 38-year-old gynecologist and was a friend of Jean Kambanda, head of the interim government, who oversaw the genocide. Kambanda is the only head of government to ever plead guilty to genocide.
The verdict comes nearly three decades after the genocide. More than 800,000 minority Tutsis and other ethnic groups were killed over the space of 100 days by armed militia.