France: un maire interdit l'inhumation de "Monsieur Z", figure du génocide au Rwanda
The mayor of Orléans, in central France, issued a decree on Tuesday banning the burial of Protais Zigiranyirazo, known as "Mr. Z," considered one of the main figures in the Tutsi genocide in Rwanda. His funeral is scheduled for August 28 in his town.
Protais Zigiranyirazo, who died on August 3 in Niamey (Niger) at the age of 87, was sentenced to 20 years in prison for genocide at first instance by the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda (ICTR) but acquitted on appeal in 2009.
The appeals chamber judges concluded at the time that their colleagues at trial had "seriously mishandled the evidence" and that there was no alternative to acquittal.
The elder brother of the widow of Rwandan President Juvénal Habyarimana, whose murder on April 6, 1994, was immediately followed by the start of the genocide, "Mr. Z" remains considered by many to be one of the masterminds of the Hutu presidential circle suspected of having planned the genocide.
This is the case of the Collective of Civil Parties for Rwanda (CPCR), a French association of genocide survivors and their supporters, which called on the French government and elected officials in Orléans to oppose the burial of Protais Zigiranyirazo.
"Why did the French government agree to a grand funeral on August 28 at the Saint Paterne Church in Orléans and burial in the Grand Cimetière d'Orléans after consistently refusing to accept him during his lifetime?" the CPCR asked in a press release.
The mayor of Orléans, Serge Grouard (DVD), in turn stated in a press release on Tuesday that this "burial on municipal territory (...) appears incomprehensible in view of the seriousness of the facts with which he is accused" and "constitutes an unbearable offense to the memory of the deceased."
He issued a prohibition order due to a "serious risk of public disorder" and "the serious possibility that the grave will become a place of glorification for the perpetrators and accomplices of the Rwandan genocide."
According to Mr. Grouard, nearly 400 people from the deceased's entourage could attend the funeral and he "expressly opposes the burial of the person concerned in the Grand Cemetery of Orléans."
The entourage of "Mr. Z" has been notified of the banning order and can appeal, the municipality told AFP.
According to the UN, the genocide in Rwanda from April to July 1994 left 800,000 dead, members of the Tutsi minority and moderate Hutu, killed by the Rwandan Armed Forces and the extremist Hutu Interahamwe militias.
![Diasporas africaines en France: Moussa Baldé, un bijoutier dans la cour des grands [5/5]](https://image.seneweb.com/content/news/2025-34-22//thumb_1260x800_68a7cc8792455_UuZWHcvtt4.png)
Commentaires (5)
DCD aau Niger et doit etre inhumé en France ? Il était Francais ou quoi ? Je n y comprends rien !
C c ki se passe aujourd hui dans l’AES avec les armées ethnicistes genocidaires du Mali,Burkina et Niger ki massacrent,mangent la chair des peulhs en toute impunité.
Encore un qui avait un passeport français
Décédé le 3 août à Niamey (Niger)
Pourquoi ne pas l'enterrer en afric où il est mort
Participer à la Discussion