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Former Rwandan army officer and genocide suspect Colonel Tharcisse Muvunyi on Monday denied all charges levelled against him when he appeared at Bow Street magistrates' court in Britain. News organisations quoted Muvunyi's lawyer Michael Fisher as saying his client was "the man named on the
tribunal's charge sheet, but not guilty of the crimes which it described." He was arrested on Saturday after police received an extradition warrant from the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda (ICTR) which indicated that Muvunyi was wanted for genocide, incitement to genocide, and crimes against humanity, including rape.
"He never took part in these acts, he did not instigate them and did not incite others to commit them," the independent Hirondelle quoted Fisher as telling the court. Muvunyi was denied bail by the court, but was given 15 days to appeal his extradition to the court in Arusha, northern Tanzania.
The ICTR on Tuesday expressed satisfaction at the British court's
decision. "We are happy ... and we are confident that he will end up here soon," Hirondelle quoted ICTR spokesman Kingsley Moghalu as saying.
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