{A Swedish court has sentenced a 61-year-old man to life in prison for genocide in Rwanda in 1994, the second such case by the Nordic country. }
The Stockholm District Court said Claver Berinkindi, a Swedish citizen originally from Rwanda, was convicted of genocide and gross crime under international law consisting of murder, attempted murder and kidnapping in Rwanda.
“This relates to participation in a large number of massacres during the 1994 genocide where the defendant had an informal role as a leader,” the court said in a statement.
Under Swedish law, courts can try Swedish citizens and other nationals for crimes committed abroad.
The court said fifteen crime victims had been awarded damages ranging from 3 million Rwandan francs ($3,781) to 10 million francs ($12,602). It was the first time a Swedish court had awarded damages to victims of genocide.
Over 1,000,000 people were killed during the 1994 genocide against the Tutsi.
According to the Stockholm court verdict, Berinkindi, who arrived in Sweden in 2002 and became a Swedish citizen in 2012, was convicted in absentia of genocide-related crimes by a Rwandan Gacaca community court in 2007.
He was charged in Sweden in September 2015.
The district court ruling can be appealed.
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