PROSECUTION, DEFENSE DIFFER ON FELICIEN KABUGA RELEASE

 Lawyers defending Felicien Kabuga, the alleged mastermind of the Rwanda genocide, insist he was in poor health to stand trial. 

They claimed based on medical reports there was sufficient medical information to conclude that he was not fit to stand trial.

Besides his health status even his provisional release from the detention facility was denied by the United Nations Tribunal.

The 87 year old Kabuga, was arrested in Paris, France in May last  year for his role in the Rwanda killings after being on the run for 25 years.

After his arrest warrant, the French court later referred him to the International Residual Mechanism for Criminal Tribunals (Mechanism) to stand trial. 

His detention at the Mechanism's facility in the Hague was to be followed by his transfer to Arusha to answer charges for his alleged role in the genocide.

However, his defence counsel insisted that Kabuga, also the alleged mastermind of the massacre, was in poor health for transfer to Arusha and subsequent trial.

In a motion filed May 6th, he requested a stay of proceedings on the basis of his health and in the alternative his provisional release on humanitarian grounds. 

The prosecution in response also filed a motion, requesting that the defence motion be denied on the basis that it is premature. 

Additionally, a submission filed by the Netherlands government on May 27th insisted that The Hague was not obliged to facilitate his release.

The submission insists that despite his age and current condition, Kabuga remained a fugitive for over two decades after the confirmation of his initial indictment on November 27th, 1997. 

He is charged with seven counts, including five related to genocide and crimes against humanity being persecution and extermination. 

In the 1994 genocide in Rwanda nearly one million people were hacked to death in the killings triggered by the killing of President Juvenal Habyarimana.