A Rwandan man has placed under arrest by Dutch police, after being suspected of participating in the 1994 genocide and now faces a possible extradition to Rwanda.
The man, identified as 84-year-old “Jean Baptiste M”, is alleged to have led a Hutu extremist party in Rwanda, as well as drawing up hit lists of Tutsis to be murdered and supplying guns to militias during the genocide that claimed 800,000 lives.
His arrest was welcomed by the Rwandan government, where he may be sent to face charges which include "genocide, conspiracy to commit genocide, complicity in genocide, direct and public incitement to commit genocide, murder and extermination as crimes against humanity".
Dutch prosecutors have also hinted their preference to send the suspect to Rwanda, stating "the evidence is there and the participants are well versed in the language, culture and the background to the events".
Under Dutch law, foreign suspects can be tried for genocide, if the act was committed after October 1970. Earlier in 2013, a Rwandan born Dutch citizen was jailed for genocide, in the first conviction of its kind.