The UN genocide tribunal for Rwanda has sentenced the former chief of Rwanda's tea marketing agency to eight years in prison for his role in the country's 1994 massacres.

Michael Bagaragaza (64) had pleaded guilty to "complicity to commit genocide" in September before the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda (ICTR). He was a member of the party that was in power during the 100-day slaughter of members of the Tutsi ethnic minority and political moderates from the Hutu majority.

Judge Vagn Joensen says a three-judge panel took into account Bagaragaza's guilty plea, claims of remorse and his voluntary surrender when deciding the sentence.

Bagaragaza, a father of eight children, has also agreed to assist the tribunal in the future.