NAIROBI, Kenya – He was praised as a hero during the dark days of the Rwandan genocide in 1994, with the credit for saving the lives of more than 1,200 people he housed in his hotel. But when he mysteriously reappeared in his home country last year, he was handcuffed.
Now Paul Rusesabagina, who angered the Rwandan government with his incisive criticisms of exile in the years after the bloodbath, has gone to trial in a case that has drawn widespread international condemnation.
Rusesabagina, who gained fame after his actions were portrayed in the Oscar-nominated film “Hotel Rwanda”, is accused of crimes related to terrorism.
In August, the 66-year-old former hotelier who lived in Belgium and the United States paraded before the media chained in the Rwandan capital, Kigali, with no explanation from the authorities on how he got there.
The trial began Wednesday morning at the Kigali Supreme Court.
Mr. Rusesabagina – masked, dressed in pink prison uniform and carrying a blue notebook – arrived at the court with 20 co-defendants.
In the course of the trial, his family, lawyers and government critics say he has no chance of a fair trial. Here’s the story so far:
Who is Paul Rusesabagina and how did he find himself in prison?
In 1994, Rusesabagina, who had graduated in hospitality in Kenya and Switzerland, was the manager of the luxurious Hôtel des Mille Collines in Kigali when Rwanda was consumed by bloodshed that killed up to a million people.
But some were fortunate enough to find shelter at the hotel, where Rusesabagina used alcohol and money to stop his possible killers. He is credited with saving 1,268 Tutsis and ethnic Hutus, and his story became the basis for the 2004 film “Hotel Rwanda”. Mr. Rusesabagina also mentioned this in his 2006 autobiography, “An Ordinary Man”.
Praised worldwide for his courage, Mr. Rusesabagina received several humanitarian and civil rights awards, including President George W. Bush’s 2005 Presidential Medal of Freedom.
As his profile increased, Rusesabagina used his new platform to openly criticize President Paul Kagame’s repressive policies.
After his home in Belgium – where he is a citizen – was broken into a few times and documents stolen, Mr. Rusesabagina moved with his family to a gated community in San Antonio, Texas, where he hoped everyone was safe. He is also a permanent resident of the USA
But on the afternoon of August 31, the Rwandan authorities presented him with a mask and handcuffs.
Rusesabagina had last communicated with his family from Dubai airport, where he had arrived on an Emirates flight from Chicago. He then boarded a private jet that he thought was going to Burundi, where he planned to speak to churches at the invitation of a local pastor.
Instead, the plane, operated by Greece-based Charter GainJet, landed in Kigali on the morning of August 28, where it was promptly arrested and detained for three days. Kagame, speaking on national television, called the operation “flawless” and denied that Rusesabagina was kidnapped, as his family said.
In December, Mr. Rusesabagina and his family sued the airline.
“Through this process, we can get some answers,” said Carine Kanimba, one of Rusesabagina’s daughters, in a telephone interview.
What are the criminal charges against him?
According to the accusation issued by the Rwandan authorities, Mr. Rusesabagina is accused of nine crimes, including murder, armed robbery and being a member of a terrorist organization.
The charges are centered on Rusesabagina’s leadership in the Rwanda Movement for Democratic Change, an opposition coalition in exile whose armed wing, the National Liberation Front, Rwandan authorities accused of carrying out attacks along Rwanda’s southern border with Burundi in 2018 .
The authorities focused on a 2018 video in which Mr Rusesabagina said that all “political means were tried and failed” in Rwanda and that it was time to “use all possible means to make the change”.
The other 20 defendants include Callixte Nsabimana, also known as Sankara, a former spokesman for the National Liberation Front who is accused of orchestrating attacks on the southern border of Rwanda.
Rusesabagina asked the court to release him on bail, alleging health problems, but his request was rejected. The prosecution described it as a risk of flight.
Rusesabagina’s chief lawyer, Kate Gibson, said the lawsuit should not even begin, given the many “violations of fair trial”. Ms. Gibson is one of three international lawyers from Rusesabagina who were not allowed to enter Kigali to represent him.
Because of her Belgian citizenship and the circumstances of her arrest, she said that Rwanda “has no jurisdiction to hear this case and should reject the charges and definitively suspend the process,” she said by email.
Mr Rusesabagina told the court on Wednesday that he is a citizen of Belgium, not Rwanda.
“Let me explain for the fifth time,” he said. “I am not a Rwandan.”
What are the conditions under which Mr. Rusesabagina is being held?
Rusesabagina is in solitary confinement at Mageragere Prison in Kigali, according to her lawyers. He has access to electricity a few hours a day and can be outside for an hour daily, depending on the weather. He can also make a five-minute call to his family once a week.
Rusesabagina, who has high blood pressure, has said several times in the past few months that she is afraid of dying of a stroke. The drugs the family sent through the Belgian embassy in Kigali never reached him, they said. And with the Covid-19 outbreaks reported in prison, his family fears he will contract the virus.
Prison authorities have repeatedly confiscated confidential legal documents, Gibson said. And with no case files or prosecuting documents and no way to speak to his lawyers in particular, Rusesabagina cannot prepare for his own case, she said.
“This is a violation of your right to communicate privately with your lawyer,” she said. “It is a violation of your right to adequate time and resources to prepare your defense. He’s completely paralyzed. “
What is the world saying about the case?
The charge was severely condemned by the international community and human rights groups.
On Tuesday, 37 members of the US Congress publicly released a letter sent in December, asking Kagame to release Rusesabagina.
A resolution passed by the European Parliament criticized the Rwandan government for Mr. Rusesabagina’s “forced disappearance, illegal surrender and incommunicado detention” and demanded that “your rights as an EU citizen be respected”.
Lawmakers asked Member States’ missions in Kigali, especially Belgians, to monitor the trial and visit him in prison. Diplomats, including the United States ambassador to Rwanda, Peter Vrooman, attended the trial on Wednesday.
On Tuesday, the Rwandan Parliament responded, adopting a resolution condemning “the EU’s attempt to unduly influence an ongoing court case”.