Woman working on appeal in Rwanda genocide case

CONCORD, N.H. – A woman serving a 10-year sentence in federal prison for lying about her role in the 1994 Rwanda genocide to obtain U.S. citizenship is working on an appeal.

In August, a federal judge denied an appeal bid from Beatrice Munyenyezi (moon-yehn-YEH’-zee), who was convicted and sentenced in 2013 in the same federal courthouse in New Hampshire where she was granted citizenship years earlier. She’s serving a 10-year sentence in Alabama and faces deportation afterward.

Munyenyezi’s appealing to the 1st Circuit Court of Appeals in Boston. She says the judge didn’t review the stripping of her citizenship.

Munyenyezi was convicted of lying about her role as a commander of one of the notorious roadblocks where Tutsis were singled out for slaughter. She also denied affiliation with any political party, despite her husband’s leadership role in the extremist Hutu militia party.