Sagahutu fled Rwanda after the RPF victory. He was arrested in the Danish town of Skjern in Ringkøbing County, on February 15, 2000. He had lived in Denmark for approximately two years as a refugee. At the time of his arrest, his neighbours described him as a "good family man" who lived a comfortable and quiet life with his wife and their two children, an eight-year-old-boy and a twelve-year-old daughter, who both spoke Danish and were enrolled in a local school. He was arrested while "he bicycled home from shopping for groceries in a nearby supermarket."