Bikindi, an ethnic Hutu,[5] was born in Rwerere in the northwestern prefecture of Gisenyi, the same region from which former Rwandan President Juvenal Habyarimana and many of the key figures in his MRND regime originated.
It is a matter of debate whether and to what extent he participated in the genocide as such, but according to the ruling of the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda (ICTR), it is proved beyond reasonable doubt that he was associated with the extremist Interahamwe militia and publicly urged Hutus to exterminate all Tutsis in June 1994.
[8] The indictment stated that Bikindi "composed, sang, recorded or distributed musical works extolling Hutu solidarity and accusing Tutsis of enslaving Hutus".
[9] In addition, it was argued that in the months prior to the genocide, Bikindi had "consulted with President Juvénal Habyarimana, Minister of Youth and Sports Callixte Nzabonimana and MRND-aligned military authorities on song lyrics" before releasing them to be played on the Hutu Power radio station RTLM.
[10] The prosecution also claimed that during the 100 days of genocide from 7 April to 14 July 1994, Bikindi participated personally in the killings, both in Kigali and Gisenyi prefecture, and helped to recruit and organise Interahamwe militias.
He subsequently entered a plea of not guilty to all the charges against him and was imprisoned at the United Nations Detention Facility (UNDF) in Arusha, Tanzania.
The conviction stemmed from the fact that the court considered it proved beyond reasonable doubt that towards the end of June 1994 he had made a speech from an Interahamwe vehicle equipped with a public address system, urging and subsequently reminding the Hutu population to exterminate all Tutsis, whom he referred to as "snakes".
[12][20] The trial had been considered problematic because of the troubling possibility of an artist being arbitrarily prosecuted for his work, art being open to a variety of interpretations.
Mukabanana claimed that after Bikindi wrote "I hate these Hutus", she asked him why he had written that and pointed out the possibility of the RPF's winning the war.