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Mugesera gave a speech at a partisan Hutu rally in Rwanda stating: "Anyone whose neck you do not cut is the one who will cut your neck."
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Mugesera leaves to Spain with his wife and five children. He applied for admission into Canada as a refugee on March 13, 1993.
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After his refugee application was approved, Mugesera and his family move to Canada in August 1993. They settle in Quebec City. Mugesera becames a permanent resident of Canada.
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Rwanda explodes into three months of mass murder, with nearly 1 million Tutsis and moderate Hutus slaughtered by Hutu extremists. Mugesera's incendiary speech from 1992 was rebroadcast at the height of the genocide.
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In 1995, Canadian Citizenship and Immigration begin deportation proceedings against Mugesera after two tapes of the speech surfaced and the Rwandan government issued a warrant for his arrest. Mugesera's lawyer at the time, Guy Bertrand, claimed his client is a victim of political persecution because he is a sworn enemy of then Rwandan president Paul Kagami.
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In July 1996, Immigration and Refugee Board adjudicator Pierre Turmel determined that Mugesera's 1992 speech constituted "an incitement to violence and ethnic hatred." He determined that there was a reasonable basis to believe that the Rwandan political operative had incited murder, hatred, genocide and crimes against humanity and ordered the deportation of Mugesera. Mugesera appealed.
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In November 1998, the Immigration and Refugee Board appeal panel upheld Turmel's 1996 decision. Both tribunals found Mugesera's speech constituted a crime against humanity and that he lied to immigration officials in his refugee application. Mugesera appealed.
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In April 2001, the Federal Court rules Mugesera can remain in Canada with his wife and five children. Ottawa appealed to a higher court.
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In September 2003, the Federal Court of Appeal rules Mugesera may have used colourful and even brutal language in the political speech he delivered, however, he was not responsible for genocide. Federal officials appeal.
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The Supreme Court of Canada issues a unanimous 8-0 ruling declaring Mugesera inadmissible to Canada because his speech helped incite the genocide.
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Mugesera holds a news conference in Quebec City asking the Federal Government to try him for crimes against humanity here in Canada. He claims he would not get a fair hearing in Rwanda and compares himself to Christ on the cross.
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In late 2005, Mugesera applies for a pre-removal risk assessment. This is a temporary stay of deportation available as a last recourse to anyone ordered removed from Canada, on the grounds he would face torture.
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Rwanda continues to press Ottawa to return Mugesera to his homeland to stand trial. "It's important to have him stand trial at home," Rwandan Ambassador to Canada Edda Mukabagwiza said in an interview at the time. "There are victims of the genocide here in Canada and in Rwanda who are seeking justice."
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Ministry of Citizenship and Immigration sends Mugesera an 80-page decision: he will be deported from Canada. Mugesera hires a lawyer to seek a stay of the removal order in Federal Court in a final attempt to remain in the country.
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Mugesera's family confirms that he is in "critical condition" in a Quebec City hospital, where he spent a second straight day. Media reports said he might have ingested medication that made him ill, following his deportation order Wednesday.
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Mugesera gets reprieve as judge delays deportation to RwandaThis is the date the Canada Border Services Agency set for Mugesera's deportation from Canada.
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Leon Mugesera ordered to remain at Montreal-area detention centre until he is scheduled to return before an immigration board in a week's time if he is still in Canada. He is described as a flight risk who couldn't be trusted, given his hospitalization last week just a day before he was scheduled to be deported.
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Accused war criminal deported to Rwanda Leon Mugesera is deported to face trial for genocide in Rwanda, marking the end of a 15-year court battle and a last ditch effort to stay in Canada.
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"Leon Mugesera's deportation, while decades past due, is welcome news for a people committed to healing and justice,'' said a note from the Twitter account of Rwanda's Foreign Minister Louise Mushikiwabo. "Canada did the right thing."
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Canadian government confirms deportation Immigration Minister Jason Kenney made the announcement in Montreal. He said that, for 16 years, Mugesera abused tools available to him to avoid deportation. Kenney said all necessary steps have been taken to ensure Mugesera won't be tortured by current Rwandan authorities.