Rwanda genocide suspect convicted of lying to US
WICHITA, Kan. (AP) - Federal jurors in Kansas have convicted an 84-year-old Rwanda genocide suspect of lying on his U.S. immigration forms...
WICHITA, Kan. (AP) — Federal jurors in Kansas have convicted an 84-year-old Rwanda genocide suspect of lying on his U.S. immigration forms but they did not find that the government proved he participated in the mass killings.
The Topeka jury convicted Lazare Kobagaya (luh-ZAR’ koh-buh-geye-uh) on Tuesday on one of the counts he faced.
Kobagaya wrote on an application for U.S. residency that he was in his native Burundi from 1993 to 1995.
But federal prosecutors say he was in neighboring Rwanda in April 1994 and that he encouraged fellow Hutus to commit atrocities against Tutsis. At least 500,000 Tutsis and moderate Hutus were killed during the wave of violence.
The jury found that Kobagaya lied on the application about his whereabouts but not when he state he didn’t participate in genocide.
Copyright 2011 The Associated Press.
