Brussels, Belgium - The government has opened proceedings to have a missionary, who was arrested in Rwanda on charges of crimes against humanity and could face the death penalty there, returned to Belgium, officials said Tuesday.
Rwandan Foreign Minister Charles Murigande said he would look at the request but would demand guarantees on how the case would be handled if and when it moves to Belgium.
A Rwandan community court has charged Guy Theunis, who was arrested earlier this month, with inciting and planning the 1994 genocide in which more than half a million people were killed.
It classified Theunis as a category one genocide suspect -- reserved for alleged leaders of the 100-day slaughter. The case was automatically transferred for trial to a conventional court, where the missionary will face a possible death penalty.
Theunis -- who worked as the editor of Rwanda's periodical "Le Dialogue" -- denied allegations that he incited the genocide by reproducing articles from the "Kangura," a newspaper that promoted the killing of members of the Tutsi ethnic minority.
A U.N. tribunal has convicted the editor of that newspaper, Hassan Ngeze, and sentenced him to life in prison.
If Theunis is returned to Belgium, a judge will decide whether to prosecute him further or dismiss the case.
Belgian Foreign Minister Karel De Gucht "has officially opened the request for the transfer of prosecution to Belgium," his ministry said in a statement. De Gucht instigated the move after talks with his Rwandan counterpart Murigande.
"We are willing to study that option," Murigande said Tuesday. "We will need some guarantees on how the process will be carried out," he added.
"We are doing this in the framework of their commitment to fight genocide which is evidenced by the two genocide trials they have held in their country."
In 2001, a Brussels court convicted four Rwandans, including two Roman Catholic nuns, for their roles in the atrocities of 1994. They received prison sentences of 12 to 20 years. Two more Rwandans were convicted and sentenced to at least 10 years in June.
Under the proceedings for Theunis, a Belgian judicial committee would travel to Rwanda and assess the case. If Rwanda agrees, the case could be transferred to a Belgian investigating judge and the missionary would be transferred to Belgium. If Theunis is returned to Belgium, a judge will decide whether to prosecute him further or dismiss the case.
Theunis was arrested earlier this month in Kigali when he was transiting from South Africa.
De Gucht has said Rwandan authorities had never passed on any charges against Theunis to Belgium, despite the former colonial power's record of prosecuting suspects in the genocide.