The release come after the representative of Spanish prosecutor told UK court that he has no basis for extradition. It appears that Gen Karake’s defence team successfully argued that he was facing war crimes charges in Spain, and so “dual criminality” did not apply.
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His controversial case had deteriorated relations between the UK and Rwanda.
Meanwhile the decision to throw his case out of court has been described by Rwanda’s Justice Minister Johnston Busingye as the best outcome of the saga.
“This was an unnecessary and abusive process”, she said in a tweet.
The Spanish warrant stemmed from a lengthy indictment issued by a judge in 2008 which accused 40 senior Rwandans, including Karake, of war crimes in the aftermath of the genocide.
Karake’s arrest in June prompted angry responses from Rwanda’s government.
Kagame led a Tutsi force known as the Rwanda Patriotic Front, which Karake was part of, that helped end the killings before taking power.
About 800,000 people were killed between April and June 1994 when Hutu extremists massacred Tutsis and moderate Hutus.
They even attacked me when they saw on my BBC ID card that I had a Rwandan name.
Gen Karake is also accused of ordering the killing in 1997 of three Spanish nationals working for Medicos del Mundo. Kagame complained that the fees towards the overall have been politically motivated and an indication of contempt and vanity by Western nations.
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“The general has been freed unconditionally after the Spanish authorities conceded that the general has committed no offense that could be prosecuted in both England and Spain”, said a statement from his defense firm, Omnia Strategy, which was founded by Cherie Blair, the wife of former British Prime Minister Tony Blair.
