Genocide convict's jail sentence reduced

A former member of the Rwandan government during the genocide in 1994 has had his life sentence reduced to 35 years on appeal.

Former Chief-of-Staff to the Defence Ministry, Theoneste Bagosora, was seen as one of the main organisers of the Tutsi genocide.

He was sentenced to life by the UN-backed ICTR (International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda) in 2008.

His convictions for some of the charges, including ordering killings at roadblocks were quashed, however the charges of genocide and crimes against humanity were upheld.

Baosgara was in charge of the soldiers that committed massacres during the Rwandan war.

The appeals court found that he knew the crimes were going to be committed and did nothing to stop them, the AFP news agency reports.

800,000 Tutsi's were killed in just 100 days during attacks by Hutu militants backed by the Rwandan government.

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