Georges Henri Yvon Joseph Ruggiu was born on 12 October 1957 and is a Belgian radio presenter who worked for Rwandan radio station Radio Television Libre des Mille Collines, which played a significant role in promoting the genocide against the Tutsi.
20 Facts About Georges Ruggiu
1.
2.
Georges Ruggiu had become involved in Rwandan politics just two years before the genocide.
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Commonly referred to as "the Muzuungu", Georges Ruggiu did not speak Kinyarwanda and his segments were tailored to appeal to educated French speakers in the political and military leadership classes, not the general public.
4.
Georges Ruggiu was the only non-Rwandan charged with involvement in the genocide.
5.
Georges Ruggiu was born on 12 October 1957 in Verviers, Belgium.
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Georges Ruggiu's mother was a Belgian teacher, his father an Italian fireman.
7.
Georges Ruggiu began visiting Rwanda, and moved there in 1993.
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From January to July 1994, prior to and during the genocide, Georges Ruggiu worked in Kigali, Rwanda, as a journalist and producer for Radio Television Libre des Mille Collines.
9.
Georges Ruggiu had no experience in journalism and did not speak Kinyarwanda, the indigenous language of Rwanda.
10.
Georges Ruggiu personally wrote and broadcast much content of this nature, relentlessly egging on his listeners that the "graves were waiting to be filled".
11.
The tone of Mille Collines became more and more violent and witnesses say Georges Ruggiu was living at the army barracks in Kigali and eating in the mess.
12.
Georges Ruggiu was hanging out with those that did the killing.
13.
Georges Ruggiu "joined a Somali community in Mombasa" and was "on the verge of fleeing to Iraq" when he was arrested by Kenyan police officers in 1997.
14.
On 23 July 1997 Georges Ruggiu was arrested in Mombasa at the request of the prosecutor of the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda, and moved to the site of the tribunal in Arusha, Tanzania.
15.
Georges Ruggiu was charged with "direct and public incitement to commit genocide" and "crimes against humanity ".
16.
Georges Ruggiu accepted responsibility for his actions, stating "certain people were killed in Rwanda in 1994 and that I was responsible and culpable".
17.
Georges Ruggiu received a relatively short sentence, after agreeing to testify against three suspects who allegedly used the media, most notably RTLM, to fuel the genocide in Rwanda.
18.
In February 2008, Georges Ruggiu was flown to Italy to serve out the rest of his 12-year sentence in his country of citizenship.
19.
On 21 April 2009, Georges Ruggiu was granted early release by the Italian authorities, a violation of the ICTR Statute.
20.
Georges Ruggiu's segments were interspersed with European cultural motifs, including classical European music and recitations of the words of Niccolo Machiavelli, in an attempt to connect European political theory with the genocide.