Dutch court jails Eugene N. for life after he threw grenade into crowd of 3,000 Tutsis sheltering in Rwanda stadium

Eugene N., a Dutch-Rwandan man who exercised local authority over around 1,000 people in Mbazi, southern Rwanda, was sentenced to life in prison by a court in The Hague on Friday for genocide and war crimes committed during the 1994 Rwandan genocide. He instructed Hutus at a football stadium to prevent any Tutsi from escaping, then threw a grenade into the crowd of terrified refugees. Survivors of the blast were subsequently beaten and hacked to death with machetes; around 3,000 Tutsis died at the stadium alone.

Eugene N. left Rwanda in 1998, acquired Dutch nationality, and was not arrested in the Netherlands until 2024, following a 2020 investigation that involved testimony from upwards of 30 witnesses.

The court said 'only a lifelong prison sentence does justice to the immense suffering inflicted on the victims and the bereaved families.'

Eugene N. denied all charges, claiming he was himself a victim who lost dozens of relatives in 'those horrific events.'