On 2 February 2026, a session was held to review and update the list of individuals participating in the appeal proceedings.
The panel of jurors for the case is expected to be confirmed on 3 February, when the official list of witnesses and expert witnesses will also be announced.
At least 50 individuals are expected to testify, with nearly 20 scheduled to give their testimony from Kigali.
The proceedings will also include questioning of the accused and testimony from the professional who assessed Claude Muhayimana's behavior, upbringing, and social background.
Meanwhile, the President of the Assize Court held a preparatory meeting with lawyers ahead of the appeal trial on 19 November 2025, during which they reviewed the list of witnesses to be called.
Muhayimana is seeking to have the charges against him dismissed and to be acquitted of the crimes for which he was convicted nearly four years ago.
Claude Muhayimana was born in 1961 in the former Kibuye Prefecture in western Rwanda. During the Genocide, he worked as a guesthouse driver. He later fled to France, where he was granted French citizenship in 2010 and settled in the city of Rouen.
On 9 April 2014, Muhayimana was arrested by French police following a complaint from CPCR, an organization that advocates for the prosecution of genocide perpetrators still in hiding.
On 10 April 2015, Muhayimana was released under judicial supervision while the investigation continued. His trial was initially scheduled to begin in September 2020 but was postponed due to the global COVID-19 pandemic.
When the trial opened on 22 November 2021, Muhayimana was accused of transporting Interahamwe militia members who were going to kill Tutsi civilians in Kibuye between April and July 1994.
The prosecution also stated that Muhayimana played a role in the killings of Tutsi civilians at Kibuye Parish Church on 17 April 1994, at Gatwaro Stadium, and at 'Home St Jean' the following day.
Represented by lawyers Philippe Meilhac and Françoise Marthe, Muhayimana denied the charges against him, stating that he was being prosecuted because of his alleged membership in the RNC opposition group.
On 16 December 2021, the trial chamber of the Paris Assize Court found Muhayimana guilty of complicity in genocide and crimes against humanity and sentenced him to 14 years in prison after concluding that he had transported Interahamwe militia members.
The court stated, however, that it could not establish his involvement in the killings of Tutsi civilians in the town of Kibuye, noting that he claimed he was transporting the body of a gendarme named Mwafurika who had been killed in Bisesero to Ruhengeri at the time those killings occurred.
The genocide survivors' organization IBUKA stated that the sentence imposed on Muhayimana was too lenient in relation to the crimes he committed.
IGIHE
Source : https://en.igihe.com/justice/article/france-appeal-hearing-opens-in-genocide-case-against-muhayimana
