FORMER Rwandan Prime Minister Jean Kambanda launched an appeal on Tuesday against his conviction in a United Nations court for involvement in Rwanda’s 1994 genocide. Kambanda was sentenced to life imprisonment in September 1998 after confessing to involvement in the genocide, in which extremist Hutus massacred 800000 mainly Tutsi civilians in just three months. His conviction was the biggest swoop secured by the UN’s International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda, which has often been criticised for its slow work pace. Kambanda said on Tuesday he wanted to retract his confession and plea agreement, arguing he had not been properly advised by his defence lawyer. “I consider that I did not receive any advice before signing my confession of guilt,” Kambanda told the ICTR’s appeals court in the north Tanzanian town of Arusha. The private Hirondelle news agency, which reports on the ICTR’s activities, said Kambanda complained the court had denied him the defence lawyer of his choice, Belgian Johan Scheers, on the grounds that Scheers had been sanctioned for misconduct in another case.