PAUL Rusesabagina, portrayed as a hero in a Hollywood movie about Rwanda’s 1994 genocide, has faced 12 charges including “terrorism” in a case shining a spotlight on opposition to President Paul Kagame.
Brought to a Kigali court handcuffed in a van inscribed “RIB” for Rwanda Investigation Bureau, Rusesabagina wore an anti-coronavirus mask and sat pensively during the hearing on Monday.
He did not immediately offer a plea but one of his government-appointed lawyers, David Rugaza, said Rusesabagina was on trial for exercising his freedom of speech.
Rusesabagina, who once called for armed resistance to the government in a YouTube video, was accused of “terrorism”, complicity in murder, and forming or joining an armed group, among other charges.
The 66-year-old former hotel manager was portrayed in the Oscar-nominated film Hotel Rwanda using his connections with the Hutu elite to protect more than 1,000 Tutsis fleeing the genocide.
After the genocide, Rusesabagina acquired
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