ARUSHA, Tanzania (AFP) — A Rwandan singer-songwriter was sentenced to 15 years in prison by the Tanzania-based UN war crimes court Tuesday for inciting the killings of ethnic Tutsis during the 1994 genocide.
Simon Bikindi, the first Rwandan entertainer to be tried by the court, was convicted of "direct and public incitment to commit genocide". He was acquitted of five other related charges.
The conviction stems from a speech Bikindi made in northwestern Rwanda in June 1994 calling on Hutus to kill Tutsis.
"The chamber finds that you abused your stature as a well-known and popular artist perceived to be an influential member of the MRND ... to incite genocide," judge Ines Weinberg de Roca ruled.
The National Republican Movement for Democracy and Development (MNRD) was Rwanda's ruling party before the genocide.
Prosecutors at the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda (ICTR) had called for a life sentence for the 54-year-old, who rose to fame in Rwanda as a champion of traditional culture.
Bikindi founded the Irindiro Ballet, which drew audiences from across the region with its blend of tribal singing and dancing.
He had denied all charges against him during the two-year trial, which opened in September 2006.
ICTR chief prosecutor Hassan Bubacar Jallow had alleged that his music was a clear provocation for Hutu extremists to slaughter moderate fellow Hutus and minority Tutsis during the 100-day killing spree that claimed 800,000 lives.
But although the court agreed that some of Bikindi's songs were inflammatory, they were composed before the 1994 genocide, which fell outside the trial's remit.
The tribunal also said prosecutors had failed to prove Bikindi's involvement in the broadcast of his songs by Radio Milles Collines (RTLM), the station that had called for the killing of Tutsis.
Bikindi has been in custody since his arrest in the Netherlands in 2001 and his extradition the following year.
"You shall remain in the custody of the tribunal pending transfer to the state where you will serve your sentence," de Roca said.
Formed in late 1994, the Arusha-based ICTR has to date convicted 31 suspects and acquitted five.
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