Former Rwandan Major Bernard Ntuyahaga, sentenced in 2007 by the Brussels Court to twenty years in prison for his participation in the killings of the ten Belgian peacekeepers on April 7, 1994 in Kigali, has served his sentence. After his release from prison, he seeks asylum in Belgium, said the Secretary of State for Asylum and Migration, Theo Francken.

The former officer of the former Rwandan Armed Forces (FAR) is in a closed center “for a return,” said Theo Francken (N-VA) on Twitter. The release of Bernard Ntuyahaga had been revealed earlier in the week. But the Office of the Commissioner General for Refugees and Stateless Persons (CGRA), which has to decide on a possible asylum application, refused to communicate on the subject on grounds of privacy.

Theo Francken confirmed that Mr. Ntuyahaga had made an asylum claim, adding that he was in a closed center “for a return“, but without specifying whether it is Rwanda. The Secretary of State reacted to a tweet from Vlaams Belang (opposition) who claimed to be the first to reveal this situation and asked Mr Francken and the Minister of Justice, Koen Geens (CD & V), to show responsibility. “This murderer in no way deserves a second chance,” added the far-right party.

“Let him go to Rwanda. We’ll see what will happen,” said Beatrice Bassinne, the widow of Corporal Bassinne, who was assassinated in Rwanda in 1994. she is against granting Bernard Ntuyahaga a political asylum in Belgium. Her husband was hacked to death with machete along with the other victims of genocide.