Paul Rusesabagina, Hotel Rwanda hero, charged with terrorism

Paul Rusesabagina

Paul Rusesabagina

Paul Rusesabagina: charged with terrorism

By Agency Reporter

Paul Rusesabagina, portrayed as a hero in a Hollywood movie about Rwanda’s 1994 genocide, appeared in a Rwandan court on Monday, charged with terrorism.

Security was tight security at the Kicukiro Primary Court in Kigali, where he was charged with 13 counts related to terrorism.

According to The New Times of Rwanda, the charge Rusesabagina faces is linked to activities of FLN, a militia group called MRCD, which he heads.

The militia group has previously made incursions into Rwanda in which several people were killed while others sustained injures and property destroyed or pillaged by the assailants.

In court, Rusesabagina was accompanied by his lawyers, David Rugaza and Emelyne Nyumbo who requested on his behalf that he is provisionally released.

Clad in khaki trousers, a jacket and a shirt without a tie, Rusesabagina did not say much during the session that lasted over an hour, other than confirming his identity.

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Rwandan police have said that Rusesabagina, who called for armed resistance to the government in a YouTube video, was arrested on an international warrant.

His family said he was kidnapped from Dubai.

The former hotel manager was portrayed in the Oscar-nominated film ‘Hotel Rwanda’ using his job and his connections with the Hutu elite to protect Tutsis fleeing the slaughter.

He later acquired Belgian citizenship and became resident in the U.S.

Rusesabagina has lived in exile since 1996, and is a strong critic of President Paul Kagame’s government.

Kagame enjoys widespread credit for returning Rwanda to stability after the genocide and boosting economic growth; however his rule has been tainted by accusations of widespread repression.

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