France resumes genocide probe against Rwanda ex-president's widow

France's judiciary on Wednesday ordered the resumption of an almost two-decade investigation into accusations that the widow of Rwanda's former president Juvenal Habyarimana was involved in the 1994 genocide.

Investigating magistrates last year dismissed the case into alleged complicity in genocide and crimes against humanity against Agathe Habyarimana over "insufficient evidence".

But the judiciary overturned that decision and ordered that the investigation, which started in France in 2007, should continue.

Habyarimana, now 83, has been living in France since 1998.

Kigali has repeatedly requested her extradition, which France has refused, without however granting her asylum.

The former first lady fled Rwanda with French help just days after her Hutu husband's plane was shot down in April 1994, triggering the genocide which saw around 800,000 people, mainly from the Tutsi minority, slaughtered in one of the 20th century's worst atrocities.

She has rejected the allegations against her, saying she was a stay-at-home mother of eight children with no link to politics.

Patrick Baudouin, a lawyer for the International Federation for Human Rights (FIDH), hailed Wednesday's decision as a "victory for truth, for justice, and against the impunity that has prevailed for years".

Baudouin said the president's widow was "at the heart of preparing the genocidal plan" as a member of the president's inner circle.

The former first lady's lawyer, Philippe Meilhac, called it a "dark day for the French judiciary", claiming there was no evidence against his client.

He said he hoped future investigating magistrates would also drop the case.

The French courts, acting on the principle of universal jurisdiction to try the most serious crimes committed outside of their country's territory, have already convicted several Rwandans for their part in the 1994 genocide.

Since 2014, France has convicted eight Rwandans for their involvement in the genocide, the Collective of Civil Parties of Rwanda (CPCR) says.