DAR ES SALAAM, June 5 (Xinhua) -- The ex-head of Rwanda's genocide radio,
who has pleaded guilty to charges, has been sentenced to six years in prison,
according to reports reaching here on Monday.
The United Nations' International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda sentenced
late last week Joseph Serugendo who supported radio broadcasts inciting ethnic
hatred back in 1994 to six years in prison.
Serugendo, arrested in Gabon in September last year, pleaded guilty to
charges of genocide and has therefore become the sixth defendant who has
acknowledged responsibility for genocide before the UN court that is seated in
Arusha of northern Tanzania.
The Rwandan defendant, however, pleaded not guilty during his first
appearance before the UN tribunal.
Serugendo was a member of the national committee of the Interahamwe militia
and the technical director of the Radio television des milles collines that
became infamous for its broadcasts inciting racial hatred in Rwanda.
The UN court, set up in 1995 with a United Nations Security Council
resolution, has so far arrested 72 genocide suspects, of whom 27 have been tried
resulting in 24 convictions and three acquittals.
The court is given a United Nations Security Council deadline for
terminating all trials in 2008. Enditem
