Rwanda spy chief Karenzi Karake granted bail as supporters chant 'free our hero'

Rwanda intelligence chief Karenzi Karake has been granted conditional bail by Westminster Magistrates' Court after being arrested in London over allegations of human rights abuses he is believed to have committed during the 1994 Rwanda genocide.

Karake, nicknamed KK, is a member of paramilitary organisation and now Rwanda's ruling party Rwandan Patriotic Front (RPF). He was arrested at Heathrow Airport on Saturday (20 June).

In 2008, Karake was indicted by a Spanish judge, who alleged the 54-year-old ordered political assassinations and massacres between 1994 and 1997.

A report by Human Rights Watch also accused Unamid (African Union – UN Mission in Darfur) troops under the leadership of Karake of killing an estimated 760 civilians in the Congolese town Kisangani while fighting Ugandan soldiers in 2000.

District Judge Purdy granted him a conditional bail set at £1m ($1,6m). The Rwandan government initially offered £200,000.

Dozens of Karake's supporters gathered outside the court to protest against his arrest and demanded the court release him.

The protesters said Karake was an innocent man who should be freed. They urged UK authorities to find and arrest people who had committed genocide crimes and are "still free."

Karake's supporters attended the hearing and chanted and applauded when the man entered the court, and he gestured back to them, saluting their support. He said he will cooperate with the court.

Rwanda President Paul Kagame condemned the arrest and said the UK government treated Karake as an "illegal immigrant".

"They must have mistaken him for an illegal immigrant. The way they treat illegal immigrants is the way they treat all of us," he said in a statement.

"Black people have become targets for shooting practice. It is history repeating itself in a different form. It is a continuation of slavery, of colonialism, of violence and bigotry. We cannot accept that people treat us this way just because they can."