Doctor accused of Rwanda genocide offences to stand trial in UK in 2027

A doctor accused of offences linked to the 1994 Rwanda genocide is due to stand trial in the UK in October 2027, according to PA Media.

Vincent Brown, 65, formerly known as Vincent Bajinya, is charged with one count of conduct ancillary to genocide and six counts of conduct ancillary to murder as a crime against humanity. He is the first person in the UK to be charged over the genocide.

Brown, who lives in Islington, north London, denies wrongdoing and has indicated that he intends to plead not guilty. He has not yet entered a plea.

At a pre-trial hearing at the Old Bailey on Friday, Mrs Justice Cheema-Grubb set a provisional trial date of October 4, 2027. The trial is expected to last between eight and 12 weeks. Brown appeared by video link from Belmarsh prison.

A plea and case management hearing is scheduled for January 15. The court was also told that a £100,000 bail condition imposed earlier in October had not been met.

Prosecutor Bill Emlyn Jones KC described the events of 1994 as “the most devastating wave of mass killing in modern history”. He told the court that 100,000 people were murdered in Kigali, particularly during the first days and weeks of the genocide.

Brown, a medical doctor who qualified in Rwanda in the 1980s, later headed the country’s Department of Family Health in Kigali. Prosecutors allege that between April 6 and 13, 1994, he was involved in six murders. He was charged after a seven-year British investigation.

An estimated 800,000 Tutsis and politically moderate Hutus were killed during the 100-day genocide in Rwanda.