Paul Rusesabagina, the “Hotel Rwanda” hero who became a fiercely outspoken government critic, was sentenced Monday to 25 years in prison on terrorism charges after what his supporters labelled a politically motivated show trial.
He was convicted by a high court in Kigali of forming a rebel group blamed for deadly gun, grenade and arson attacks in Rwanda in 2018 and 2019.
Rwandan prosecutors had sought a life sentence for Rusesabagina, the 67-year-old former hotelier credited with saving over 1,200 lives during the country’s 1994 genocide, and whose actions inspired the Hollywood film.
Neither Rusesabagina, whose family has raised concerns about his health, nor his lawyers were in court for the verdict. He is expected to appeal.
Security forces were deployed both in and around the court, which was packed with journalists and diplomats from foreign embassies.
His family say Rusesabagina was kidnapped and had rejected the nine charges against him as payback by a vengeful government for his outspoken views.
– ‘Lack of independence’ –
The United States — which awarded Rusesabagina its Presidential Medal of Freedom in 2005 — along with the European Parliament and Belgium have been among those to voice concerns about his transfer to Rwanda and the fairness of his trial.
He denied any involvement in the attacks, but was a founder of the Rwandan Movement for Democratic Change (MRCD), an opposition group of which the FLN is seen as the armed wing.
“The court finds that Rusesabagina’s role in founding the FLN, provision of funds to the rebels, purchase of communication tools for the rebels all constitute the crime of committing terrorism.”
– Disillusioned –
A decade later the American actor Don Cheadle played Rusesabagina, a moderate Hutu, in the Oscar-nominated blockbuster that brought his story to an international audience.
He accused Kagame of authoritarian tendencies and left Rwanda in 1996, living in Belgium and then the United States.
His family, who have campaigned globally for his release, say Rusesabagina is a political prisoner and accuse the Rwandan authorities of torturing him in custody.
“Paul’s family and team knew that he would be declared ‘guilty’ the moment he was kidnapped -– no trial was needed,” it said.
Investigators confirmed that a cell phone belonging to Kanimba, a US-Belgian dual national, had been compromised multiple times.
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