KIGALI (RWANDA) – Former hotelier Paul Rusesabagina has faced down blood thirsty militias and was feted in Hollywood. Depicted as a hero in a movie portraying the Rwandan genocide of 1994, he will defend himself against terrorism charges in a court in Kigali on Wednesday.
Rusesabagina is a fierce critic of President Paul Kagame and is in poor health. His family said the trial is a farce. The Rwandan government has accused him of fomenting violenmce and directing deadly attacks on its territory from exile.
“We don’t expect a fair trial,” said his daughter Carine Kanimba. “This hearing will be a theatre.”
The trial has turned the spotlight on Kagame as well whom rights groups have accused of employing authoritarian means to quash political dissent and prolong his 21-year presidency. Several key dissidents have been finished off abroad although the government has denied any hand in it.
Kagame has denied charges of rights violations and enjoys the support of the West for restoring order and stability in the nation, cracking down on corruption and bolstering economic growth.
Rusesabagina was arrested in August and he faces 13 charges, including terrorism and forming an armed rebel outift.
Carine said the charges against her father were trumped up and he was denied the choice of defence lawyers. His defence team was appointed by the state which said he was free to change them. He also has one Rwandan lawyer appointed by the family although international lawyers have not been permitted to join the team.
According to Harrison Mutabazi, the spokesperson for the judiciary, Rusesabagina was being tried like any other citizen.
“We give justice with due process,” he said.
His case gained international attention because of the Academy Award-nominated 2004 flick “Hotel Rwanda” which is based on his life.
It shows how Rusesabagina, whose role was essayed by Don Cheadle, used his ties as a hotel manager to save ethnic Tutsis fleeing slaughter by Hutus.
As many as 800,000 Tutsis and moderate Hutus lost their lives in the genocide that cast a blotch on the nation. His father was Hutu while mother and sister were Tutsi.
Rusesabagina went on to obtain Belgian nationality and became a US resident where he received the Medal of Freedom, the highest civilian honour in the United States, in 2005.
He became a major critic of Kagame and urged armed resistance to the government in a YouTube video in December 2018, saying that democratic change was impossible. The year before, Kagame won a landslide victory in the election with 99% of the vote.
Rusesabagina told judges during pre-trial hearings he was kidnapped from Dubai. According to Rwandan officials, he was tricked into boarding the aircraft.
In September, he had told the court he had donated 20,000 euros ($24,000.00) to the National Liberation Front (FLN), the armed wing of the Movement for Democratic Change political outfit he co-chaired while in exile.
Rusesabagina will be tried alongside 20 other FLN fighters who were captured after attacks in Rwanda’s southern province in 2018.
Last week, the European Parliament urged Rwanda to give a fair trial to Rusesabagina and slammed his enforced disappearance, illegal rendition to Rwanda and incommunicado detention.
Late on Tuesday, the resolution prompted a reply from the parliament.
“The Rwanda parliament rejects the European parliament’s baseless assertion that Paul Rusesabagina will not receive a fair trial in Rwanda, and calls on the government of Rwanda to continue to ensure this right is also fully upheld for the victims,” legislators said.