Two investigative judges in Paris have dismissed charges against Agathe Habyarimana, widow of the former Rwandan president, ruling on Wednesday that there was insufficient evidence to prosecute her for conspiracy to commit genocide against the Tutsi in 1994. The National Anti-Terrorism Prosecutor’s Office (Pnat) has announced that it will appeal.

The ruling significantly reduces the likelihood of a trial for the former Rwandan First Lady, now 82, in a case that has long pitted investigating judges against Pnat. Shortly after the decision, prosecutors confirmed to AFP their intention to challenge it.

Agathe Habyarimana, who has held the status of “assisted witness” since 2016, was the subject of a judicial inquiry in France dating back to 2008, following a complaint filed by the Collective of Civil Parties for Rwanda (CPCR). The CPCR said on Thursday it would also likely appeal.

Judges: “Not Sufficient Evidence”

In their decision, seen by AFP, the judges ruled that “there is not sufficient evidence against Agathe Kanziga (Habyarimana) to show she was complicit in acts of genocide” or that she took part in a conspiracy to commit genocide. Instead, they noted that she appeared “not as a perpetrator of genocide, but as a victim of the terrorist attack” that killed her husband, President Juvénal Habyarimana, along with her brother and other relatives on 6 April 1994.

That assassination triggered the massacres that left, according to UN estimates, some 800,000 people dead in Rwanda between April and July 1994, mainly Tutsi and moderate Hutu, killed by the Rwandan Armed Forces and extremist Interahamwe militias.

Civil party associations argue that Habyarimana was part of the so-called akazu – the inner circle of Hutu power accused of planning the genocide – something she has consistently denied.

Years of Legal Battles

The inquiry formally closed in 2022, but Pnat requested further investigations that same year, repeating the demand in September 2024, and pressing for her indictment for conspiracy to commit genocide. In May 2025, judges explained why such an indictment was not justified.

Despite Pnat’s appeals, which remain under review, the judges proceeded to order a dismissal – a move prosecutors say strengthens their resolve to pursue the case.

Lawyers React

Agathe Habyarimana’s lawyer, Philippe Meilhac, described the dismissal as “a great relief” and the result of “over 18 years of work.” He argued the detailed ruling “restores her honour,” portraying her as entirely unconnected to Rwanda’s darkest events and above all a victim of the 1994 attack.

He warned, however, that the prosecutor’s persistence suggested “the relentless pressure may continue.”

Civil party lawyers, meanwhile, expressed dismay. Patrick Baudouin of the International Federation for Human Rights (FIDH) called the ruling “deeply regrettable and incomprehensible.” His colleague, Emmanuel Daoud, argued that Habyarimana’s role in “shaping the genocidal plan” and her public statements after her husband’s death should have led to her trial before the Cour d’Assises.

Life in France Without Status

After her evacuation to Europe with her family on 9 April 1994, facilitated at the request of then-French president François Mitterrand, France refused to extradite her to Rwanda but did not grant her asylum.

Living in France since 1998 without legal status, she continues to face what her lawyer describes as “serious hardships,” while hoping the ruling may eventually lead to her regularisation.

Source: AFP

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