Nipate
Forum => Kenya Discussion => Topic started by: vooke on September 20, 2021, 03:19:48 PM
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KIGALI, Rwanda — Paul Rusesabagina, the prominent dissident who was portrayed in the Oscar-nominated movie “Hotel Rwanda” was found guilty on Monday of forming an armed terrorist group in a monthslong case that drew international condemnation after government officials boasted about having tricked him into returning to Rwanda.
Mr. Rusesabagina was once praised for sheltering more than 1,200 people in the hotel he managed during Rwanda’s 1994 genocide. But he gradually became one of the most high-profile critics of Rwanda’s longtime leader, Paul Kagame, calling out the president for his increasingly repressive rule. Mr. Kagame in turn accused Mr. Rusesabagina of profiting from invented stories about his heroism and of financing armed rebel groups to overthrow his government.
Mr. Rusesabagina was tried on nine charges, including forming an illegal armed group, kidnapping, arson and murder. Judge Beatrice Mukamurenzi said, “The court finds that they should be found guilty for being part of this terrorist group.”
“They committed terror acts which they later bragged about in different announcements and videos,” the judge added.
Timothy P. Longman, a professor of political science and international affairs at Boston University and the author of two books on Rwanda, said, “This trial fits into a long history in Rwanda of silencing dissent.”
“The actual verdict in the Rusesabagina case is almost irrelevant at this point, because the message has been clearly sent that no Rwandan is safe to speak out against President Kagame and the ruling Rwandan Patriotic Front,” he added.
Mr. Rusesabagina boycotted the trial in March, saying he did not expect to find justice. He had been living in Texas last year when he was deceived by Rwandan government operatives into getting on a plane in Dubai that brought him to Kigali, the Rwandan capital. He says he was initially denied access to attorneys of his choosing, held in solitary confinement, tortured and interrogated in a secret detention center.
Mr. Rusesabagina and his lawyers have also contended that his rights to confidential communication and to prepare his defense have been repeatedly violated. The trial, which began in February, received widespread condemnation from Mr. Rusesabagina’s family, rights groups, legal associations, and European and American lawmakers. More than three dozen U.S. senators and representatives have urged Mr. Kagame to release him.
Mr. Rusesabagina decided not to attend the court’s session on Monday, according to one of his lawyers, Jean-Félix Rudakemwa. The Supreme Court complex, which is close to the president’s office, was packed with members of the diplomatic corps, lawyers, and security officials.
“It’s been so painful to watch this trial,” said Carine Kanimba, Mr. Rusesabagina’s daughter, who watched the proceedings online from Belgium. “We knew they would find him guilty. The script was written long before he entered the courtroom. This verdict means nothing.”
At the heart of Rwanda’s case against Mr. Rusesabagina was his leadership role in the Rwanda Movement for Democratic Change, a coalition of opposition groups in exile whose armed wing, the National Liberation Front, is accused of being responsible for attacks inside Rwanda that killed nine people. Mr. Rusesabagina was on trial with 20 other defendants, whom prosecutors described as fighters involved in carrying out those attacks in southern Rwanda.
The three-judge panel of the Rwandan High Court Chamber for International and Cross-border Crimes was expected to deliver its ruling in mid-August, but postponed without giving any reason.
The sentencing will herald a dismal chapter for a man lauded globally as a humanitarian and an activist who displayed courage amid a season of bloodletting.
https://www.nytimes.com/2021/09/20/world/africa/hotel-rwanda-guilty.html?smid=fb-nytimes&smtyp=cur
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The man will get a minimum of 20 years. Poor fellow, but he is in deep shit.
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Who will shoot him when he is surrounded by his Tutsi - who see him as their only saviour against another geneocide.
Natural causes will kill him or Museveni.