Peter Erlinder leaves Rwanda

Peter Erlinder in Rwandan court
Peter Erlinder, a law professor at the William Mitchell College of Law in St. Paul, Minn., who is charged with genocide denial appears in a Rwandan courtroom Monday June 7, 2010 for a bail hearing. His request to be released on bail was denied.
Marc Hofer/ASSOCIATED PRESS

A St. Paul law professor accused of minimizing Rwanda's 1994 genocide arrived in Nairobi late Saturday after Rwanda granted him bail on medical grounds.

Reached by telephone, Peter Erlinder declined to comment on his case but said he would hold a press conference in Nairobi on Sunday. Later he sent a text message to The Associated Press saying he happy to be in Nairobi.

A lawyer representing Erlinder, Kennedy Ogeto, said security guards at the airport in Kigali, the Rwandan capital, checked his and Erlinder's travel bags twice before allowing them into the gate area to depart.

Ogeto did not offer more details about Erlinder's travel plans.

Erlinder's brother, Scott, said he expected him to fly from Kenya to Tanzania and Amsterdam before arriving in New York. Scott Erlinder said he thought his brother would have a news conference Tuesday in New York.

Erlinder, 62, a professor at William Mitchell College of Law in St. Paul, Minnesota, was arrested May 28 while in Rwanda to help with the legal defense of an opposition leader. (Copyright 2010 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)

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