Rwandan genocide accused Fulgence Kayishema claims he is a refugee in South Africa and he has “heard” of the Rwandan genocide.

Kayishema spoke briefly to TimesLIVE before his court appearance in Cape Town on Friday.

He was arrested by police in an operation with the UN's International Residual Mechanism for Criminal Tribunals in Paarl, north of Cape Town, on Wednesday afternoon. He was wanted for his alleged role in the Rwandan genocide in 1994.

During his first court appearance on Friday, the court heard he is wanted by the International Criminal Court on charges of:

• genocide;
• being complicit in genocide;
• conspiracy to commit genocide; and
• extermination as a crime against humanity.

The state said they were also charging him for fraud and transgressions of the Immigration Act and the Refugee Act.

He was brought into the dock under armed police guard and appeared confident.

While waiting in the court stairwell, he told TimesLIVE he was “100% confident” about his chances in defending his case.

Asked why he hid in South Africa under a false identity, he claimed he was “not hiding”.

“I'm a refugee of civil war,” he said.

Asked whether he wanted to say anything to the victims of the Rwandan genocide, he said: “What can I say? I'm sorry to hear what was happening.”

Asked what he was referring to, he said: “You know there was a civil war during that time, people were killing each other.”

He claimed he played no part in the war which claimed the lives of millions of people.

Asked under which identity he claimed refugee status in South Africa, he said he used his grandfather's name, which he said was Dende Minani.

His bail application was postponed to next Friday for the state to obtain further particulars relating to the charges against him.

He will remain in custody until then.

TimesLIVE