Rwanda's Former First Lady Agathe Habyarimana Avoids Genocide Trial in France

Agathe Habyarimana, the 82-year-old widow of Rwandan President Juvénal Habyarimana, avoided trial in France after magistrates deemed insufficient evidence to charge her with complicity in the 1994 genocide. The former First Lady, who fled Rwanda with French assistance following her husband’s assassination that set off mass killings, faced an investigation by a victims’ group and was questioned as an "assisted witness." Despite French prosecutors linking her to Hutu-linked genocidal conspiracies, the court ruled no serious evidence tied her to the atrocities. Meanwhile, French anti-terror prosecutors are appealing the decision, while her lawyer called for expeditious resolution of the case.