This photograph shows a monument for honouring the victims of the Rwanda's genocide by the Portuguese artist Grada Kilomba during its inaugurati on the Habib-Bourguiba Esplanade along the Seine River in Paris, on June 2, 2026. [AFP]
A Dutch court on Friday handed a life sentence to a 66-year-old man for his role in the massacre of 3,000 Tutsis during the 1994 Rwanda genocide.
During the violence that took place in April 1994, terrified victims sought refuge in a football stadium in Mbazi, southern Rwanda, only to be systematically slaughtered.
The judge said that the man, identified as Eugene N., prevented Tutsis from escaping the stadium and threw a grenade into the crowd.
The court said he was also involved in attacks preceding the stadium massacre, when houses were looted and set on fire.
"Only a lifelong prison sentence does justice to the immense suffering that has been inflicted on the victims and the bereaved families," said the court.
His actions were committed with "genocidal intent," said the presiding judge handing down the verdict.
He was convicted of war crimes and the crime of genocide.