A Quebec judge has handed a Rwandan man a life sentence, months after he became the first person convicted under Canada's Crimes Against Humanity and War Crimes Act.

Desire Munyaneza was sentenced in a Montreal court on Thursday morning.

Quebec Superior Court Judge Andre Denis ruled that Munyaneza should spend his life in prison, without any chance of parole for 25 years.

"The accused, an educated man from a privileged background, chose to kill, rape and pillage in the name of his ethnic group's supremacy," the judge said in his verdict.

"The sentence I am imposing is severe because the law considers the crimes committed by the accused to be the worst in existence.

"History has shown that what happened there (in Rwanda) can happen anywhere in the world, and that nobody is immune to such a tragedy."

CTV's Genevieve Beauchemin said the judge said he was handing out a severe sentence that was merited by the seriousness of the crimes Munyaneza had been convicted of.

"There were seven counts that he was found guilty of. ... In four of those counts he was given the sentence of no possibility of parole before 25 years," Beauchemin told CTV News Channel outside of the courthouse.

"In other cases, he was also handed other judgments, but overall what we can say is that he will not be eligible for parole before 25 years, that he has been sentenced to life in prison."

The Crown had been seeking a life sentence for Munyaneza.

The defence has indicated it will appeal the verdict, though it is likely that the Quebec Court of Appeal won't hold a hearing until next year.

In May, Munyaneza was convicted of committing war-time atrocities -- participating in massacres and rapes near Butare, Rwanda -- between April and July 1994.

During the trial, the judge described Munyaneza as being part of "the elite" of Butare, Beauchemin said.

"He was a well-educated man, he was a member of a family that was known there as a business family," Beauchemin said.

"Essentially what they say, is that during the Rwandan genocide, he took part in dozens of murders, he was involved in the brutal rapes of several women...he was also involved the pillaging of several homes and businesses at that time."

When Munyaneza was convicted, the judge wrote a 210-page ruling that concluded "the accused's criminal intent was demonstrated beyond a reasonable doubt, as was his culpable violence."

Munyaneza was arrested at his Toronto-area home in 2005. He first arrived in Canada in 1997, seeking refugee status because he claimed that he would be killed if he was sent back, because he was a Hutu.

Nearly 800,000 minority Tutsis and moderate Hutus were murdered during the 1994 genocide in Rwanda.

With files from The Canadian Press and a report from CTV's Genevieve Beauchemin