Norwegian justice officials have decided to send a Rwandan genocide suspect back to his home country for prosecution, reports said this week. Oslo District Court announced at the weekend that Charles Bandora, a Rwandan citizen residing in the Norwegian capital, would be extradited to Kigali to face trial for his suspected involvement in the killing of thousands of Rwandans during the country’s bloody conflict in 1994.
The move marks the first time Norway or any European nation has opted to extradite suspected war criminals to the African country in recent years, according to a Nordic Page report published last Sunday.
The news comes less than two weeks after 47-year-old Rwandan national Sadi Bugingo was jailed in the Scandinavian country for a period of 21 years – the country’s highest penalty. Bugingo had been found guilty of being involved in the murder of more than 2,000 people in Rwanda in the mid-1990s.
Paul Lønseth said on behalf of Norway’s Ministry of Justice that sending Bandora to Kigali was a significant step in the effort of delivering justice in the wake of the Rwandan genocide.
However, Bandora has since protested the extradition, arguing that he will be unable to receive a fair trial in his native land and has urged the Norwegian government to reconsider.