UN appeal judges have ordered that Rwandan genocide suspect Félicien Kabuga be urgently considered for release and that the war crimes trial against him be indefinitely suspended.
In June, judges at a UN war crimes court ruled Mr Kabuga was unfit to stand trial due to his dementia but suggested alternative procedures should take place.
Now, appeal judges have rejected this suggestion.
According to the judges, the UN war crimes tribunal made “an error of law” in June by deciding that Mr Kabuga should be tried via an alternative simplified procedure despite his state of health.
And now a lower trial chamber has been ordered to work on releasing him.
The businessman and radio station owner, now in his late 80s, was one of the last suspects sought by the tribunal prosecuting crimes committed during the 1994 genocide in Rwanda.
He is accused of spreading hatred through his radio station and motivating the killers who killed more than 800,000 people in just 100 days.
Arrested in Paris in 2020, after two decades on the run, Mr Kabuga pleaded not guilty.
The court has admitted this latest decision will be disappointing for the victims and survivors of the genocide but noted that justice can only be served with full respect for the rights of the accused.
