Posted: January 20th, 2012, 8:00am MSK
On January 20, 2009, the Court of First Instance of Nyarugenge sentenced former Rwandan justice minister Agnes Ntamabyariro to life in prison. They found that Ntamabyariro, and co-defendant Jean-Leonard Hategekimana, participated in planning, weapon distribution, and arranging the assassination of opposition Tutsi governor Jean Baptiste Habyarimana, during the 1994 Rwandan genocide. Ntamabyariro's conviction represented a rare verdict from a Rwandan court are on genocide charges most trials in the aftermath of the 1994 genocide have been conducted by the the UN-backed International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda (ICTR). Citing fairness concerns, the ICTR has refused to transfer most cases to Rwandan courts. However, the ICTR upheld the decision to transfer