KIGALI, Rwanda
Rwandan President Paul
Kagame denied on Sunday that his government had kidnapped from abroad Paul
Rusesabagina, whose widely acclaimed heroism inspired a Hollywood movie but who
has been detained on terrorism and other charges.
FILE PHOTO: Paul Rusesabagina, the man who was hailed a hero in a Hollywood movie about the country's 1994 genocide is detained and paraded in front of media in handcuffs at the headquarters of Rwanda Investigation Bureau in Kigali, Rwanda
“It was not the case,” Kagame said, referring
to accusations of kidnapping.
“There was no kidnap. There was no any
wrongdoing in the process of his getting here. He got here on the basis of what
he believed and wanted to do, and he found himself here ... that’s how it
happened.”
Kigali announced Rusasebagina’s detention on
Aug. 31, parading him before the press in handcuffs.
The country’s criminal investigations agency,
the Rwanda Investigation Bureau (RIB), has said Rusesabagina will face charges
including terrorism, financing terrorism, arson, kidnap and murder.
The Rwandan government has accused Rusesabagina
of having a hand in alleged attacks by National Liberation Front (FLN) rebels
in southern Rwanda along the border with Burundi in 2018.
A former hotel manager during Rwanda’s 1994
genocide, Rusesabagina used his job and his connections with the ethnic Hutu elite
to protect Tutsis fleeing the slaughter.
His heroism inspired the Oscar-nominated film
“Hotel Rwanda,” in which he was played by actor Don Cheadle.
Rusesabagina left Rwanda shortly after the
genocide and later acquired Belgian citizenship. He has been living in Texas.
His relatives have accused the Rwandan
government of kidnapping him and a daughter has said Rusesabagina last called
them while in Dubai, days before Kigali announced his detention.
Rusesabagina has been a strong critic of
Kagame’s government, whose credit for returning the country to stability after
the genocide and boosting economic growth, has been tainted by accusations of
widespread repression.
An official in the United Arab Emirates has
told Reuters that Rusesabagina was not kidnapped.
On Thursday, U.S. Assistant Secretary for
African Affairs Tibor Nagy tweeted that Washington expected Kigali “to provide
humane treatment, adhere to the rule of law and provide a fair and transparent
legal process.”
About 800,000 Tutsis and moderate Hutus were
killed in 100 days in the central African nation in 1994.
Soldiers of the then-Hutu-led government and ethnic militia allies orchestrated the genocide in which victims were hacked to death with machetes, burned alive or shot.
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