No bail for man accused of Rwandan war crimes

A Quebec judge has denied bail to the first man in Canada to be charged with war crimes, genocide and crimes against humanity.

Justice André Denis of the Quebec Superior Court says the crimes Désiré Munyaneza is accused of committing in his homeland of Rwanda are very serious.

His specific reasons for denying bail are covered by a publication ban.

Munyaneza is charged with genocide, war crimes and crimes against humanity in connection with the 1994 Rwandan genocide, in which an estimated 800,000 minority Tutsis and politically moderate Hutus were killed over a three-month period.

He was arrested at his home in Toronto in October 2005, but waited until this month to ask the court to release him pending the outcome of his trial.

• FROM OCT. 19, 2005: Toronto man charged with Rwandan war crimes

Jury selection is to get underway in Montreal in about a year.

A number of issues must be sorted out before the trial begins, including a trip by the lawyers and the court to Rwanda to gather evidence from witnesses who can't or won't travel to Canada to testify.

There's also the question of whether the government should continue to cover Munyaneza's legal bills.

Munyaneza is accused of raping and murdering people in the southern Butare province of Rwanda. The charges against him mark the first time the Crimes Against Humanity and War Crimes Act has been used since it was enacted five years ago.

Munyaneza is Hutu and the son of a wealthy businessman. He came to Canada in 1996 and claimed refugee status, but was turned down.

He moved to Toronto about four years ago, where he was living with his wife and two children at the time of his arrest.