The mechanism for international criminal justice in The Hague on Tuesday, June 1, refused to declare Félicien Kabuga “unfit to stand trial”. On May 6, the defense of the alleged genocide requested that the proceedings against his client be suspended, or failure to release him during trial, for “humanitarian” reasons, given his age and state of health.
For the prosecutor, it would have been “too early” to declare Félicien Kabuga unsuitable to try at this stage. And it is obviously this argument that won. On April 15, the court ordered a new medical expert from the octogenarian to assess his physical and mental ability to follow a trial. However, this expertise is not yet complete.
In his request, Emmanuel Altit, Félicien Kabuga’s lawyer, had also provided medical reports, but medical confidentiality requires that they not be made public. It is therefore difficult to have an exact idea of how the accused’s health condition has developed since he moved to The Hague last autumn.
In the absence of a halt to the proceedings, the defense had asked for an alternative temporary release by proposing that Félicien Kabuga could stay in The Hague during his trial. The request was also rejected. His lawyer may have stated that the octogenarian would probably not flee in his condition, the court dismissed that argument. “Despite his age, Félicien Kabuga was a fugitive for more than 20 years,” the judge recalled in his decision to reject.
This is the second time since the beginning of the year that the defense has obstructed a similar request and is rejected.
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