A doctor accused of a number of offences relating to the 1994 Rwanda genocide is set to face trial in autumn next year.
Dr Vincent Brown, formerly Dr Vincent Bajinya, 65, is accused of influencing or encouraging the deaths of members of the Tutsi ethnic group in Rwanda. He is the first person in the United Kingdom to be charged over genocide.
British authorities charge Brown with one count of conduct ancillary to genocide and six offences of conduct ancillary to murder as a crime against humanity.
A judge has set a provisional trial for October 2027. Brown has not yet entered a plea and maintains that he did not commit the alleged acts.
The defendant appeared by video link from Belmarsh prison for Thursday’s pre‑trial hearing at the Old Bailey, where the court set an eight‑to‑twelve week trial starting 4 October 2027 and a plea‑and‑case‑management hearing for 15 January.
Brown is a medical doctor who qualified in Rwanda in the 1980s, later serving as head of the country’s Department of Family Health in Kigali. During the genocide, from 6 to 13 April 1994, he allegedly participated in six murders.
The prosecution awaited resolution of a £100,000 bail condition, imposed earlier in October, which the court noted had not been met.
Prosecutor Bill Emlyn Jones KC described the 1994 events as “the most devastating wave of mass killing in modern history”, noting that roughly 800,000 Tutsis and moderate Hutus were killed in the 100‑day genocide.
The case raises questions about international accountability and the reach of UK jurisdiction into historical crimes.
