Charles Onana, a 60-year-old Franco-Cameroonian writer, was convicted by a Paris court on December 9 for “complicity in publicly contesting the existence of a crime against humanity.”
This conviction is based on remarks made in his 2019 publication, Rwanda, the Truth About Operation Turquoise, in which he described the concept of a Hutu-planned genocide as “one of the greatest scams of the 20th century.”
Onana received a fine of €8,400, while his publisher, Damien Serieyx of Éditions du Toucan, was penalized with a €5,000 fine. Additionally, they are required to pay €11,000 in damages to the human rights organizations that initiated the lawsuit.
This case is a result of France’s 2017 press freedom legislation, which criminalizes the denial or minimization of acknowledged genocides. Onana’s book faced criticism from groups such as Survie, the Ligue des droits de l’Homme, and the International Federation for Human Rights.
The 1994 Rwandan genocide, carried out by an extremist Hutu regime, resulted in the deaths of approximately 800,000 individuals, primarily Tutsis and moderate Hutus, as reported by the UN.
Outside the courthouse, some of Onana’s supporters shouted phrases like “Onana innocent” and “Kagame assassin,” in reference to Rwandan President Paul Kagame. Security personnel swiftly intervened to disperse the gathering.
