Doctor accused of 1994 Rwanda genocide offences to face trial in UK

A doctor accused of offences linked to the 1994 Rwanda genocide is set to stand trial in the United Kingdom. Dr Vincent Brown, formerly known as Dr Vincent Bajinya and now 65 years old, faces charges of killing, directing or encouraging the deaths of Tutsi members in Rwanda. He is the first individual in the UK to be charged with genocide-related offences. Brown, who resides in Islington, north London, is charged with one count of behaviour ancillary to genocide and six counts of behaviour ancillary to execution, classified as crimes against humanity. A judge has fixed his provisional trial date for October 2027. He denies any wrongdoing and has not yet entered a plea. Appearing via video link from Belmarsh Prison on Friday, Brown attended a pre‑trial hearing at the Old Bailey. Mrs Justice Cheema‑Grubb scheduled a provisional eight‑ to twelve‑week trial to commence on 4 October 2027. A plea and case management hearing has also been set for 15 January. He has indicated that he will plead not guilty to the charges brought against him. During the genocide, an estimated 800,000 Tutsis and politically moderate Hutus were killed over a period of 100 days. Brown qualified as a medical doctor in Rwanda during the 1980s and later became head of the country’s Department of Family Health in Kigali, where he lived with his wife and young son. Between 6 April and 13 April 1994, he is alleged to have been a party to six murders. He was subsequently charged following a seven‑year British investigation into the killings. The court heard on Friday that a £100,000 bail condition, imposed earlier in October, remains unmet. Prosecutor Bill Emlyn Jones KC told the tribunal that the events of 1994 were “the astir devastating question of wide sidesplitting successful modern history”. Jones added: “One 100 1000 were murdered successful Kigali particularly successful the archetypal days and weeks of the genocide.” Read the full story at BBC News →