QUEBEC CITY, Aug. 2 (UPI) -- Alleged Rwandan genocide supporter Lon Mugesera has asked to have his war crimes trial held in Canada.
Mugesera, a resident of Quebec City, has been fighting deportation to Rwanda for 12 years, claiming he life would be in danger if he were returned to the African country.
He claims to be a sworn enemy of the current Rwandan regime. So, rather than be sent back to what he deems as certain death, Mugesera has called on Justice Minister Robert Nicholson to try him under Canada's war crimes law.
The Rwandan native is accused of giving a speech in 1992 that encouraged the Rwandan Hutus to kill the Tutsis, whom he called "cockroaches."
Rwanda also recently abolished the death penalty for convicted war criminals.
Some 800,000 people who were killed in 1994.
