Paul Rusesabagina – Elite News

Sep202020 by Our ReporterNo Comments

Exiled ‘Hotel Rwanda’ hero Claims he was Duped into Flying Back to Kigali

Paul Rusesabagina, depicted in a Hollywood movie as a hero who helped save Tutsis during the Rwandan genocide, told the New York Times he believed he was flying to Burundi at the invitation of a pastor, but was instead lured to Rwanda and arrested on terrorism charges, Rusesabagina was speaking to the US daily in an interview the paper said had been authorised by the Rwandan government and had taken place in the presence of government officials. "How I got here – now that is a surprise," he told the newspaper. "I was actually not coming here." The 66-year-old Hutu political dissident and former hotel manager was propelled to fame after the Oscar-nominated film "Hotel Rwanda" portrayed him using his connections with the Hutu elite to protect Tutsis fleeing sl...

Sep192020 by Our ReporterNo Comments

How the Hero of ‘Hotel Rwanda’ fell into a Vengeful Strongman’s Trap

FEATURED, NEWS, Politics, Rwanda

As the manager of a five-star hotel where 1,268 people sheltered from the 1994 genocide in Rwanda, Paul Rusesabagina was known for his cool head — a quality that kept the killers at bay, helped ensure that all his guests survived, and led to an Oscar-nominated movie, “Hotel Rwanda,” that brought his story to a global audience. Now Mr. Rusesabagina is back in Rwanda, but this time under arrest, in a spartan cell in Kigali’s central police station, where he sleeps in a simple bed draped in a mosquito net. He still cuts the figure of an unruffled hotelier — pressed blazer, white shirt, polished loafers — even as he wrestled with how to explain the latest twists of a life story that threatens to outdo even its Hollywood version. Not long ago Mr. Rusesabagina, 66, was the toast o...

Sep172020 by Our ReporterNo Comments

Lawyers to Appeal Decision to Deny ‘Hotel Rwanda’ Hero Bail

FEATURED, NEWS, Politics, Rwanda

Lawyers for Paul Rusesabagina, a former Rwandan hotel manager who sheltered people during the nation’s 1994 genocide, will appeal a court decision to deny him bail.The court took the decision Thursday after Rusesabagina appeared on charges including terrorism earlier this week. His lawyers had asked that he be granted bail, partly on health grounds.“We find it necessary that Rusesabagina is provisionally detained in a prison facility for 30 days,” Judge Dorothy Yankurije said. “This will partly ensure that he does not sabotage ongoing investigation in his case.” The American Bar Association Center for Human Rights yesterday in a statement said that it plans to monitor the trial of Rusesabagina for fairness as part of the Clooney Foundation for Justice TrialWatch initiative.“Our TrialWa...

Sep162020 by Our ReporterNo Comments

Trudeau Must Defend the Rights of ‘Hotel Rwanda’ Hero

FEATURED, NEWS, Rwanda

If Prime Minister Justin Trudeau is serious about what he calls Canada’s “strong friendship” with Rwanda, and if he’s as genuinely devoted to the multilateral rules-based international order as he claims to be, now would be a good time to act like it. In the bizarre case of Paul Rusesabagina, the leading Rwandan opposition figure who vanished in Dubai on Aug. 28 and showed up a few hours later in a jail cell in Kigali, Rwanda’s capital, Trudeau may even be uniquely positioned to step up. That’s the view of Philippe Larochelle, a Montreal human rights lawyer on the legal team Rusesabagina’s family has retained on his behalf. Human Rights Watch and Amnesty International have described Rusesabagina’s case as both an enforced disappearance and extraordinary rendition, in violatio...

Sep162020 by Our ReporterNo Comments

Daughter of Hotel Rwanda Dissident Criticises Belgium’s Response to Arrest

FEATURED, Politics, Rwanda

The alleged rendition and detention of a Rwandan human rights activist has prompted only a tepid political response from his adopted home of Belgium, according to the activist’s daughter, who said it called into question the value of European citizenship for political prisoners. Paul Rusesabagina, a Belgian citizen who inspired the film Hotel Rwanda, is alleged to have been forcibly taken from Dubai to Kigali, where he is facing terrorism-related charges. But his daughter Carine Kanimba said that since his mysterious disappearance, he has had one visit by a Belgian official – and that the visit took place in front of a state-appointed lawyer. “It really calls into question what the Belgian citizenship is worth, and what the status of asylum protection is work as a ...

Sep152020 by Our ReporterNo Comments

‘Hotel Rwanda’ hero Paul Rusesabagina charged With Terrorism

FEATURED, NEWS, Politics, Rwanda

A Rwandan court is charging the man who inspired the film "Hotel Rwanda" with terrorism, complicity in murder and forming an armed rebel group. Prosecutors accuse Paul Rusesabagina of orchestrating crimes against unarmed, innocent Rwandan civilians in 2018. Rusesabagina refused to plead to all 13 charges on Monday, including being linked to murders, claiming some of the charges are baseless. Rusesabagina, who has been detained since late last month, is asking to be released because of poor health. The court will hear his request for bail on Thursday. The film "Hotel Rwanda" portrayed Rusesabagina, a former hotel manager, as a hero, who protected Tutsis fleeing the 1994 genocide. Rusesa...

Sep12020 by Our ReporterNo Comments

Kagame Arrests Top Critic Rusesabagina Over Rwanda Genocide

FEATURED, NEWS

By Elite News Reporter President Paul Kagame on Monday ordered the arrest of his longtime critic Paul Rusesabagina, known for saving over 1,000 people in the hotel he managed during the 1994 Rwandan genocide, a story later told in the Hollywood film Hotel Rwanda. Rusesabagina was arrested on terror charges. The Rwanda Investigation Bureau (RIB) said in a statement on Monday the 66-year-old government critic had been arrested abroad in an unnamed location on an international warrant and taken to Rwanda to face charges "of serious crimes including terrorism, arson, kidnap and murder". The announcement came as officers brought Rusesabagina - in handcuffs and a face mask - to the RIB's headquarters in the capital, Kigali, where he was paraded before the press. Rusesabagina did...