​​​​​​KIGALI, Rwanda

The Paris Court of Assize on Friday upheld a 14-year jail term for a Franco-Rwandan man for his role in the genocide against the Tutsi ethnic group in Rwanda in 1994, according to a lawyer for genocide survivors.

The court found Claude Muhayimana guilty of “complicity in genocide” and “complicity in crimes against humanity” during the genocide.

Muhayimana, 65, was convicted of the charges during his first trial in 2021 and was sentenced.

But he appealed the verdict, which led to a retrial that began early this month.

The appellate court said Muhayimana, a former driver, was complicit in transporting and assisting Interahamwe militiamen who carried out massacres in western Rwanda's former Kibuye prefecture.

But Muhayimana claimed innocence.

The trial began Feb.3. Both the prosecution and defense lodged appeals against the 2021 verdict.

While the defense sought acquittal, the prosecution wanted a heavier sentence.

On Thursday, during closing arguments, French prosecutors requested an increased sentence of 15 years imprisonment on the grounds that the crimes were grave.

Rwanda has indicted about 50 genocide suspects in France, but only about eight have been prosecuted, according to the umbrella body of genocide survivors' organizations in Rwanda known by its acronym, IBUKA.

The genocide against Tutsi claimed about 1 million lives, mostly of the Tutsi ethnic group and moderate Hutus, who were massacred by the Interahamwe militias.