US convicts Rwandan man who hid genocide role for decades
Nshimiye was accused of lying to a jury to protect himself and a fellow perpetrator of the genocide.
**US convicts Rwandan man who hid genocide role for decades**
More than 800,000 were killed in the 1994 Rwandan genocide
A Rwandan man has been convicted in the US of lying under oath about his role in the 1994 genocide during the trial of a former university classmate.
A federal jury in Boston found Eric Nshimiye, 54, guilty of perjury and obstruction of justice charges linked to his testimony in the 2019 immigration fraud trial of Jean Leonard Teganya, who was also accused of taking part in the atrocities.
Nshimiye left Rwanda for Kenya in 1994 and was admitted to the US as a refugee the next year.
Around 800,000 people, mostly from Rwanda's minority Tutsi community, were killed by ethnic Hutu extremists during the 100-day genocide.
Prosecutors said he hid his role in the genocide to gain entry into the country.
Evidence shown at Nshimiye's trial indicated that, while studying at the University of Rwanda in Butare, he joined attacks on Tutsi people, including by hitting them on the head with a club.
He could receive up to five years in prison on each of the four perjury counts, and faces a maximum of 10 years in prison for obstruction of justice.
He is scheduled to be sentenced on 26 January 2027.
"For nearly three decades, this defendant concealed his involvement in the 1994 Rwandan genocide and the heinous acts of violence he committed, including clubbing people to death," US Justice Department prosecutor Tysen Duva said.
"Then he lied to immigration officials in order to become a US citizen, and he lied to a federal jury to protect himself and a fellow perpetrator of the Rwandan genocide," Duva said.
Nshimiye's lawyer, Kurt Kerns, said in a statement that they were "obviously disappointed with the verdict" and would seek "all avenues of relief".
In his opening statement at the trial in October, Kerns said the charges were based on "fabricated accusations", arguing that Nshimiye was not in Butare when the violence started.
He also said Nshimaye was charged only after giving testimony as a character witness for Teganya, his former university classmate.
Teganya was sentenced to eight years in jail in 2019 for what prosecutors called "the most serious form of immigration fraud", after lying about his involvement in the genocide.
He was also accused of taking part in at least seven murders and five rapes, but denied involvement in the genocide.