A former Rwandan finance minister pleaded not guilty before a UN tribunal today to charges of inciting massacres and mass rapes during Rwanda's 1994 genocide.
Mr Emmanuel Ndindabahizi (51) appeared more relaxed than at his first appearance at the special UN court in Arusha a week ago, when he could barely keep his hands from shaking.
The prosecution alleges Mr Ndindabahizi led a campaign of extermination against civilian Tutsis in Kibuye in western Rwanda during the genocide in which extremists of the ethnic Hutu majority massacred 800,000 Tutsis and moderate Hutus.
The campaign partly consisted of public incitement of Hutu civilians to isolate and kill their Tutsi neighbours, the indictment against him says.
During April, May and June 1994, Mr Ndindabahizi circulated about Gitesi, Gishyita and Mabanza communes and instructed or supervised local administrative officials, civilian militia and local residents to kill persons identified as Tutsis.
Although he is not charged with personally murdering or participating in the murder of anyone, he is alleged to have encouraged, planned and instigated mass rapes and murders.
Mr Ndindabahizi is also accused of distributing weapons, including machetes and grenades, to civilian militia to kill Tutsis.
The date of his trial has yet to be set. There are 39 people awaiting trial at the Rwanda tribunal in Arusha, northern Tanzania.