Rwandan fugitive Fulgence Kayishema, who has been in custody in South Africa, has been arrested again on an order for his transfer to Arusha, Tanzania, to stand trial for genocide.
The latest developments which were at the request of the UN International Residual Mechanism for Criminal Tribunals - seem to have caught his lawyers by surprise.
He was arrested while in the holding cells at the high court in Cape Town earlier on Tuesday.
The tribunal wants him to answer to charges that he allegedly orchestrated the killing of approximately 2,000 Tutsi refugees at a Catholic church in Rwanda during the 1994 genocide.
Mr Kayishema is already in custody in South Africa after he was traced to a wine farm in Paarl in the Western Cape province and was initially arrested for contravening the country’s immigration laws.
South African investigators said he’d been living in South Africa under a false name since his arrival in 2000.
In his home country, Rwanda, he’s accused of playing a key role in the 1994 genocide, complicity in genocide and crimes against humanity.
During his last court appearance in June, he abandoned his bail application and said he’d apply for asylum status in South Africa.
The case against him has been postponed to 30 August to allow his lawyers and local prosecutors to respond to the arrest and transfer order.
He has not officially pleaded to the charges against him, but has previously denied having any role in the crimes.
