A leader of an extremist militia group during the 1994 genocide of some 800,000 Rwandans was sentenced to 15 years in prison by a UN court yesterday.
Omar Serushago (37), a local leader of the Interahamwe militia, had pleaded guilty to genocide and three counts of crimes against humanity. Representatives of genocide survivors and Rwandan government officials condemned the sentence as lenient.
"This is a mockery to the victims and all the people who were slaughtered by the militia led by Serushago," said Mr Josue Kayijaho, of the umbrella group of genocide survivors' associations, Ibuka.
Serushago's defence attorney, Mr Mohamed Ismail, described his client's relief at the sentence. "Up until now, he's been thinking he'll probably spend the rest of his life in jail."
Three Rwandans have so far been convicted on genocide charges at the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda, set up in the north Tanzanian town of Arusha, but Serushago was the first to receive less than the maximum life sentence.
Judge Laity Kama said Serushago deserved some clemency because he surrendered voluntarily, had co-operated with the court and expressed remorse.
Serushago personally murdered four ethnic Tutsis in 1994, while 33 murders were committed by militiamen under his charge in the north-western town of Gisenyi.