OLSO — A Rwandan man been convicted of masterminding the murder of around 2,000 people in his country's 1994 genocide and was sentenced to a maximum 21 years in prison, a Norwegian court ruled on Thursday.
Former businessman Sadi Bugingo, 47, was found guilty of organizing attacks against Tutsi civilians who sought refuge in a municipal building, a Catholic center and a hospital in Kibungo municipality, the Oslo district court said.
Bugingo has lived on Norway's western coast since 2002 where he was tracked down by Rwandan prosecutors.
"The purpose of the attacks the defendant took part in was to kill all the Tutsi seeking refuge in these places. Refugees of all ages were killed,'' the court said in its verdict.
Witnesses told the court that Bugingo led a militia that made victims dig their graves then killed them with hand grenades, clubs and machetes.
Bugingo himself did not kill anyone but led, encouraged and organized the killings - acts that amount to murder under Norwegian law.
More than 800,000 people were killed when Rwanda's Hutu-led government and ethnic militias went on a 100-day killing spree in April 1994, indiscriminately killing Tutsis and moderate Hutus after long-standing ethnic tensions flared up.
Bugingo has appealed the verdict.