Genocide suspect Fulgence Kayishema -- accused of ordering the brutal death of 2,000 people in a church during the 1994 Genocide against the Tutsi in Rwanda -- appeared in the Cape Town magistrate's court on Friday, June 9, facing 54 charges, up from five.
Initially the state charged him with two counts of fraud and three of contravention of the Immigration Act," Western Cape National Prosecuting Authority (NPA) spokesperson Eric Ntabazalila said, on Friday.
It is reported that the NPA on Friday named him as Ukiliho Kayishema Fulgence. The case was postponed to June 20.
Ntabazalila added: "The defence informed the court today [Friday] that ... their client has been moved from Pollsmoor Prison to Helderstroom Prison, Caledon, which made it difficult for them to consult.
"The defence requested the case to be postponed for them to consult their client. The state did not oppose the request as it was in the interest of justice."
Reports from South Africa now indicate that the state has increased the number of charges to 54, which comprises nine counts of fraud; 10 of contravention of the Refugees Act; and 35 counts of contravention of the Immigration Act.
A South African court, on June 2, adjourned - to June 9 - the hearing in the trial of Kayishema, one of the most sought-after suspects of the 1994 Genocide against the Tutsi in Rwanda who was arrestded on May 24 in South Africa. On June 2, he made a brief appearance in the Cape Town Magistrate's Court, his second appearance since his arrest.
Kayishema, 63, is a key suspect in the Genocide against the Tutsi. He was arrested on May 24, at a grape farm in the small winelands' town of Paarl, 60 kilometres north of Cape Town, after evading justice for nearly three decades.
According to media reports, at the grape farm, he worked as a security guard. South African media reports indicate that he was a loved and trusted confidant of the Afrikaans family he lived with in Paarl.
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As the former head of the genocidal government's judicial police in the former Kibuye prefecture, Kayishema is accused of playing a pivotal role in planning and executing the killings of approximately 2,000 Tutsi at Nyange Catholic Church during the 1994 Genocide against the Tutsi.
In a past interview with The New Times, The National Public Prosecution Authority, spokesperson, Faustin Nkusi, explained that once the South African court process concludes, Kayishema will first be transferred to Arusha, Tanzania, to the United Nations' International Residual Mechanism for Criminal Tribunals (IRMCT).
Subsequently, he is expected to be extradited to Rwanda.
But it remains unclear how things proceed especially since it is reported that some of the charges he faces in South Africa could see him imprisoned for up to 15 years.
In 2012, the Chief Prosecutor of the then International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda (ICTR) transferred Kayishema's file to Rwanda as part of the court's completion strategy.
