Hero of ‘Hotel Rwanda’ found guilty of terrorism

RUSESABAGINA USED HIS FAME TO HIGHLIGHT WHAT HE DESCRIBED AS RIGHTS VIOLATIONS BY THE GOVERNMENT OF KAGAME

A Rwandan court has sentenced Paul Rusesabagina, a one-time hotel manager portrayed as a hero in a Hollywood film about the 1994 genocide, to 25 years in prison after he was convicted of terror-related charges.

“They should be found guilty for being part of this terror group MRCD-FLN,” judge Beatrice Mukamurenzi said on Monday of 20 defendants, including Rusesabagina. “They attacked people in their homes or even in their cars on the road travelling.”

The case has had a high profile since US-based Rusesabagina was arrested in 2020 on arrival from Dubai after what he described as a kidnapping by Rwandan authorities.

Since being portrayed by actor Don Cheadle as the hero of the 2004 film Hotel Rwanda, Rusesabagina has emerged as a prominent critic of President Paul Kagame.

He had denied all the charges against him, while his supporters called the trial a sham and proof of Kagame’s ruthless treatment of political opponents.

Prosecutors had sought a life sentence on nine charges, including terrorism, arson, taking hostages and forming an armed rebel group, which he directed from abroad.

Rusesabagina has acknowledged his membership of the Rwanda Movement for Democratic Change (MRCD), a group opposed to Kagame’s rule, but denied responsibility for violence carried out by its armed wing, the National Liberation Front (FLN).

Rusesabagina became a global celebrity after the film, which depicted him risking his life to shelter hundreds as the boss of a luxury hotel in the Rwandan capital, Kigali, during the 100-day genocide, when Hutu ethnic extremists killed more than 800,000 people, mostly from the Tutsi minority.

Cheadle was nominated for an Oscar for the role.

Rusesabagina used his fame to highlight what he described as rights violations by the government of Kagame, a Tutsi rebel commander who took power after his forces captured Kigali and halted the genocide.

Rusesabagina’s trial began in February, six months after he arrived in Kigali on a flight from Dubai. Human Rights Watch said at the time that his arrest amounted to an enforced disappearance, which it called a serious violation of international law.