Rwanda genocide suspect 'freed after arrest in Netherlands'

Rwanda genocide suspect Charles Ndereyehe has been released after he was arrested on Tuesday evening at his house near Netherlands capital, Amsterdam, his political party has said.

The Rwandan government had in 2010 issued an international arrest warrant for Mr Ndereyehe on charges of organising killings in the genocide.

His release has been confirmed by leader of the foreign-based opposition party FDU-Inkingi, Justin Bahunga.

Mr Ndereyehe, 70, is an active member of FDU and a critic of the Rwandan government. He has been living in the Netherlands for more than 15 years.

During the genocide he was the head of the government’s agricultural research institution located in south Rwanda.

Rwanda’s commission for the fight against genocide had tweeted asking the Netherlands to “urgently extradite Mr Ndereyehe to Rwanda”.

Rwandan police has yet to comment on his arrest and release.

In 2016, the Netherlands extradited to Rwanda Jean Baptiste Mugimba and Jean Claude Iyamuremye who were accused of playing roles in the genocide.

An estimated 800,000 Rwandans were killed in the space of 100 days between April and June 1994.