KIGALI, Rwanda
Paul Rusesabagina, the "Hotel Rwanda" hero turned government critic, was denied access to the Kigali prison where his client is being held pending the verdict of his trial for terrorism and deported to Belgium.
According
to Rwandan authorities, Vincent Lurquin was deported and declared persona non
grata for violating immigration laws.
The Rwanda
Bar Association raised a complaint because Lurquin was not accredited to
practice in Rwanda.
He claims
he has not been able to see his client for the past year.
"I have
not seen my client, that is the whole problem. They refuse to let me see my
client, I went to see the President of the Bar who did not want to see me, I
went to see the Attorney General who did not want to see me, the Minister of
Foreign Affairs, the Minister of Justice. But in Belgium, the Minister of
Foreign Affairs contacted his counterpart. The Federal Prosecutor's Office has
also done so and they don't want to answer us, they don't want me to see
him," Vincent said.
The Rwanda
Bar Association raised a complaint because Lurquin was not accredited to
practice in Rwanda.
Authorities
said that Vincent came through a visitation visa and was not allowed to work in
Rwanda with the said document.
A Rwandan
court will deliver next month its delayed verdict in the terrorism trial of
Paul Rusesabagina, the judiciary announced on Friday.
Initially,
a decision in the highly watched case against the 67-year-old Rusesabagina had
been due on Friday but it was delayed without any reason given.
The
Rwandan judiciary said on Twitter that the court would now announce its verdict
against Rusesabagina and his 20 co-accused on September 20 at 11 am.
Prosecutors
have sought a life sentence for Rusesabagina, the former hotelier credited with
saving hundreds of lives during the 1994 genocide, and whose bravery inspired
the Hollywood film "Hotel Rwanda".
The
government of President Paul Kagame accuses him of supporting the National
Liberation Front (FLN), a rebel group blamed for attacks inside Rwanda in 2018
and 2019 that killed nine people.
Rusesabagina
has denied any involvement in the attacks but was a founder of the Rwandan
Movement for Democratic Change (MRCD), an opposition group of which the FLN is
seen as the armed wing.
His family
and supporters insist that the charges against him are fabricated and have
campaigned globally for his release.
Rusesabagina,
who used his celebrity following the 2004 film to denounce Kagame as a
dictator, was arrested in August 2020 when a plane he believed was bound for
Burundi landed instead in Kigali.
The trial
opened in February, but Rusesabagina, a Belgian citizen and US green card
holder, has boycotted proceedings since March, accusing the court of
"unfairness and a lack of independence". - AFP
No comments:
Post a Comment