A United States federal court has found a 54-year-old Rwandan national, Eric Nshimiye, guilty of giving false testimony about his alleged role in the 1994 genocide during proceedings involving a former university colleague.
A jury in Boston convicted Nshimiye on four counts of perjury and one charge of obstructing justice following statements he made during the 2019 immigration fraud case against Jean Leonard Teganya.
Nshimiye escaped Rwanda for Kenya in 1994 before receiving refugee status in the United States a year later.
The 1994 genocide claimed approximately 800,000 lives, predominantly among the Tutsi minority, following a campaign of mass killings carried out by Hutu extremists over 100 days.
American prosecutors maintained that Nshimiye deliberately withheld information about his alleged participation in the atrocities to obtain permission to settle in the country.
Court proceedings revealed evidence suggesting that he attacked members of the Tutsi community while studying at the University of Rwanda in Butare, allegedly hitting victims on the head with a wooden club.
If convicted on all charges, he could receive a maximum of five years imprisonment for each perjury offence, alongside another decade for obstructing justice.
His sentencing hearing has been scheduled for January 26, 2027.
US Justice Department prosecutor Tysen Duva said the accused had spent almost 30 years hiding his alleged involvement in the mass killings, including acts of extreme brutality.
Duva further accused him of deceiving immigration authorities to obtain American citizenship before misleading a federal jury to shield himself and another individual implicated in the genocide.
However, Nshimiye’s defence attorney, Kurt Kerns, expressed dissatisfaction with the jury’s decision, indicating that his legal team would explore available options to challenge the outcome.
During the trial’s opening proceedings in October, Kerns maintained that the allegations were fabricated, insisting his client was not in Butare when the violence erupted.
He also argued that the prosecution was initiated only after Nshimiye appeared as a character witness in support of Teganya, his former academic colleague.
Teganya received an eight-year prison sentence in 2019 after being found guilty of serious immigration-related deception concerning his alleged involvement in the genocide.
He had also faced accusations of involvement in at least seven killings and five sexual assaults, although he consistently rejected claims that he participated in the atrocities.
By: Magdalene Agyeiwaa Sarpong