Dutch court jails man for life over role in Rwanda genocide

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.

At hearings in June before the District Court of The Hague, prosecutors had urged a life sentence, saying that N. was "personally involved" in the killings.

"If the horrific crimes of the suspect -- in which not one but an estimated 3,000 innocent people were literally slaughtered, in which the suspect personally threw a grenade into a stadium... do not deserve a life sentence, then what does?" one prosecutor asked the court.

The 1994 Rwandan genocide claimed the lives of an estimated 800,000 people over the course of three months. According to UN figures, most of the victims were part of the Tutsi minority in Rwanda.

The suspect had denied the charges, saying he himself was a victim who had lost dozens of his own relatives in what he described as "those horrific events".

N.'s lawyers had urged an acquittal on all counts, saying their client in fact did "everything to prevent the genocide".

"The case has torn his scars open again. He is a broken man," said one of the defence lawyers during the trial.

According to local news agency ANP, the defence said they will "almost certainly appeal the charges".

'Multiple severe crimes'

At the time of the massacres, N. held a position of responsibility in the community, said the court, overseeing around 1,000 people in Mbazi.

"The suspect was a man who was held in high regard and he must have been aware of his role and the influence he had as a local authority," said the court.

"Instead of staying on the sidelines, the defendant committed multiple severe crimes," added the court.

The court said he watched from a road as his men stormed into houses of Tutsis, setting them ablaze.

He was however acquitted of the charge of incitement to genocide.

1998. fled to the Netherlands in 1998. Rwandan authorities issued an international arrest warrant for him in 2014.

However, according to Dutch law, he cannot be extradited as he has obtained nationality in the Netherlands.

Dutch prosecutors opened their own investigation in 2020 and have since interviewed dozens of witnesses in Rwanda. N. was arrested in 2024.

European courts have tried and convicted several dozen people involved in the Rwanda genocide under the principle of universal jurisdiction, which allows them to hear the most serious crimes even if committed abroad.