Franco-Rwandan priest Marcel Hitayezu, indicted in France in mid-April for his alleged role in the massacre of Tutsi refugees in his church in 1994 and imprisoned, was released on Wednesday under judicial supervision, concordant sources indicated on Friday (May 7th). , confirming information from the newspaper
La Croix
.
Read also: End of the run for Kabuga, financier of the Tutsi genocide
Marcel Hitayezu, born in 1956, was arrested at his home in Montlieu-la-Garde (Charente-Maritime) and indicted on April 14, notably for "
genocide
" and "
complicity in crimes against humanity
", then imprisoned .
According to a judicial source, the priest, who disputes the facts, was released on Wednesday by the investigative chamber of the Paris Court of Appeal, which reversed the order for provisional detention targeting him and placed under judicial supervision, with ban on leaving the Charente-Maritime department, obligation to check in and return of his passport. "
The judicial institution considered that there was no reason to keep him in detention, given his guarantees of representation and the fact that he will not leave France,
" told AFP his lawyer, Me Vincent Asselineau.
Marcel Hitayezu, who was a priest in the parish of Mubuga, in southern Rwanda, in 1994, is accused of having in April 1994 "
deprived of food and water from the Tutsi who took refuge in his church
" and of having "
Provided food to the Interahamwe militiamen who attacked the Tutsi refugees
" in the building, had specified the national anti-terrorism prosecution, also in charge of the files of crimes against humanity, at the time of the announcement of his indictment.
According to
La Croix
, the priest arrived "
between 1998 and 1999
" in the diocese of La Rochelle after three years spent in refugee camps in eastern Congo. He was granted refugee status in January 2011 and was then naturalized, the daily said. This priest had been targeted by a request for extradition from Rwanda, which the Court of Cassation had definitively rejected in October 2016, as was the case for all the suspects of participation in the genocide claimed by Kigali. The genocide left more than 800,000 dead according to the UN, mainly Tutsi exterminated between April and July 1994. To examine the accusations against Marcel Hitayzu, the French justice opened a judicial investigation three years later, on July 26, 2019.
