Rwandan YouTuber and government critic jailed for genocide denial

A Rwandan YouTuber has been sentenced to seven years in prison for breaching the country’s laws on genocide denial.

Rashid Hakuzimana, who was arrested in 2021, denied all the charges that also included inciting ethnic division and spreading false information for claiming that anyone who dares to challenge President Paul Kagame in elections is jailed.

During the trial, he told the court that it was criticism of the government in his popular YouTube videos that was the real reason for his arrest.

Under the Rwandan law, it is a crime to deny, downplay or to attempt to justify the genocide, in which about 800,000 people were killed in 1994.

Ethnic Tutsis and politically moderate Hutus were targeted in the 100-day massacre by Hutu extremists.

The Tutsi Rwandan Patriotic Front (RPF) rebels who ended the genocide are accused by rights groups of killing thousands of Hutu people in retaliation as they took power – an allegation denied by the RPF-led government.

The genocide remains a hugely sensitive issue in Rwanda and it is illegal to fuel any sort of division.

The judge who sentenced Hakuzimana on Tuesday said his remarks on YouTube, such as those suggesting that genocide orphans were not as well cared for as the children of senior government officials, amounted to fuelling division.

The YouTuber and government critic has attracted thousands of viewers on his Rashid TV channel.

The 56-year-old represented himself during the trial, but refused to mount a defence because he wanted to be referred to as a politician in court, not a YouTuber.

He also complained that he had spent three years in jail since his arrest.

Following his sentencing, Hakuzimana will serve four years in prison – as the three years already spent in prison will be taken into account.

He was also fined $700 (£500). It is not yet clear if he will appeal.

Human rights group have accused Kagame’s government of using the genocide denial legislation to crack down on dissent – an allegation the government denies.

Last year, a court extended a 15-year sentence by a further two years for another YouTuber found guilty for inciting violence, denigrating genocide memorials and spreading rumours. Yvonne Idamange had denied the charges during the trial in 2021, which she then boycotted.