- Rwandan Karenzi Karake, 54, was detained at Heathrow Airport in June
- Spy chief was accused of ordering massacres in wake of 1994 genocide
- Karake is also accused of the murder of three Spanish medical workers
- Cherie Blair spearheaded the Karake's battle against extradition to Spain
- The spy chief would have faced war crimes charges in the country
A Rwandan spy chief who was arrested in London over alleged war crimes was freed by a British court yesterday after his defence team led by Cherie Blair won their bid to stop him being extradited.
General Karenzi Karake, the head of Rwanda’s intelligence service – who was described by Tony Blair’s wife as a ‘hero’ to his people – was held at Heathrow Airport in June.
Spain had issued a European Arrest Warrant for Gen Karake, 54, over alleged war crimes in the aftermath of the 1994 genocide in Rwanda and for ordering the killing of Spanish aid workers in 1997.
But Howard Riddle, chief magistrate for England and Wales, yesterday ruled there was insufficient evidence to substantiate Spain’s allegations under UK law.
For extradition under the Arrest Warrant, there must be enough proof for charges in both the country seeking extradition and the one where a suspect has been arrested.
Aaron Watkins, representing the Crown Prosecution Service, said Spanish authorities now accepted the general had not committed an offence that could be prosecuted in both countries. Mr Watkins offered no evidence.
Mrs Blair, who led Gen Karake’s defence team in her role as a QC specialising in human rights law, attended the hearing at Westminster Magistrates’ Court.
Gen Karake was in custody from his arrest on June 20 – when he was allegedly on his way to a meeting with the head of MI6 Alex Younger – until his release on bail of £1million on June 25.
Sources close to the security services said he had ‘useful information’ about terrorism in east Africa, including activities of the Islamist group Al-Shabaab, that had a direct effect on British interests.
Conservative MP and former international development secretary Andrew Mitchell said: ‘These events do not reflect well on the Spanish legal system, the European Arrest Warrant or indeed on Britain.
‘What a terrible way to treat a senior official from a friendly government who was here to help us in the battle against terrorism. There’s little doubt that the Rwandan government are owed an apology.’
The decision to drop the extradition has also been hailed in his home country. Rwanda’s minister of foreign affairs Louise Mushikiwabo posted on Twitter: ‘Delighted! Gen. KK coming home! This was an unnecessary and abusive process.’
Justice minister Johnston Busingye added that it was ‘an unjust case’.
A statement issued by Mrs Blair’s law firm last night said: ‘The General should never have been arrested and extradition proceedings should never have been initiated. Omnia Strategy is pleased the General can now return home to his family and to fulfilling his duties in [Rwanda].’
After securing his bail in June, Mrs Blair told BBC Radio 4 she thought the charges were politically motivated, adding: ‘To the Rwandan people and government, the general is a hero. They see this very much as a personal attack on Rwanda itself.’
She said the proper place for his alleged crimes to be investigated was in Rwanda itself – despite his position as the country’s spy chief and a close ally of president Paul Kagame.
THE SPANISH ACCUSATIONS
Karenzi Karake was a commander in the Rwandan Patriotic Front, the rebel force that swept through the country in 1994 after the slaughter of around 800,000 minority Tutsis orchestrated by the Hutu majority ethnic group, who ran the country at the time.
The RPF are now in power. But Karake and others in the party were accused of arranging reprisal killings in the years following the genocide.
The Spanish arrest warrant came after an indictment was issued by a judge in 2008 against 40 senior Rwandans including Karake, who was also accused of ordering the killing of three Spanish volunteers from a medical charity in 1997.
Rwanda maintained the charges against Gen Karake and the others were baseless.
By Richard Marsden for the Daily Mail
