Arusha - A Belgian journalist who pleaded guilty to charges related to Rwanda's 1994 genocide received a 12-year jail sentence yesterday from a UN court. Georges Ruggiu, who worked for Radio Television Libre des Mille Collines (RTLM), was given two sentences of 12 years each after pleading guilty to direct and public incitement to commit genocide and persecution as a crime against humanity.
The International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda (ICTR) said the sentences should run concurrently. More than 800,000 Tutsis and moderate Hutus were killed in a three-month slaughter by Hutu extremists.
Ruggiu worked for RTLM at the time, becoming an infamous voice behind what became known as "hate radio". He fled Rwanda in the aftermath of the genocide, but was arrested in Kenya and transferred to the ICTR's headquarters in Tanzania. He is the only non-Rwandan held by the court.)