A Rwandan court sentenced Paul Rusesabagina, an opponent of current president Paul Kagame, known for saving over 1,200 lives during the 1994 genocide to 25 years in prison. Rusesabagina, told in 2004 by the film “Hotel Rwanda”, was accused of belonging to “a terrorist group he led raid in Rwanda, killing civilians, wounding others and looting property ”, as the sentence pronounced by judge Beatrice Mukamurenzi reads.
Rusesabagina had been detained since 2020, after being arrested on an international arrest warrant from the Rwandan government on nine different counts. The sentence found him guilty of eight, starting with that of terrorism. His lawyers and family argue that the entire process is a hoax to justify political motivations: Rusesabagina’s open criticisms of Kagame, accused of authoritarian drifts and a “new genocide” against the country’s Hutu majority.
Loading…
From hero to public enemy
Rusesabagina, 67, left Rwanda in 1996, moving first to Belgium (where he obtained citizenship) and then to the United States with his family. He is believed to have saved over 1000 people during the Rwanda genocide, by offering refuge in the hotel he managed to persecuted members of the Tutsi minority and the so-called ‘moderate’ Hutus, hostile to an ethnic massacre that cost the lives of over 800,000 citizens over the span. than 100 days. The story rose to global prominence with the 2004 film, in a Hollywood reconstruction that sparked more than one critic at home. Even to its protagonist, accused of having ridden popularity at the expense of the survivors of the massacre.
Rusesabagina, who was awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom in the US in 2005, has over the years become one of the most visible opponents of Paul Kagame’s presidency, leading the opposition group Rwandan Movement for Democratic Change for a certain period. Kagame, a Tutsi guerrilla and leader of the Rwandan Patriotic Front, has won some international acclaim for the pace of economic growth and the stability of the country, reaching a rise in GDP of 10% in 2019. But he is also accused of management autocratic of the country, carried out with the violation of human rights and the physical elimination of dissidents. The economic development model itself has not remained unscathed by criticism, with the suspicion that the government had manipulated statistics to alleviate poverty rates and offer a more attractive picture to international investors.
The mystery of the arrest, the accusations and the “farce” trial
The arrest of Rusesabagina dates back to the end of August 2020, when the politician “disappeared” during an air trip that he thought was headed for Burundi and was instead resolved with his landing and his capture in Rwanda. The family spoke of the kidnapping and stated that he would be taken to his country of origin against his will, a circumstance denied by the judges. Rusesabagina has always pleaded innocent and refused to appear at the trial hearings, classifying the investigation into him as a “farce” and believing that the verdict was due to his dissidence against Kagame.