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Paul Rusesabagina. (Muhizi Olivier / TT NYHETSBYRÅN)

”Hotel Rwanda”-hjälte döms för terroristbrott

Den rwandiske dissidenten Paul Rusesabagina är skyldig till terrorbrott, slår en domstol i landet fast. Rusesabagina, som skildrades som hjälte i filmen ”Hotel Rwanda”, riskerade livstids fängelse, men dömdes slutligen till fängelse i 25 år, rapporterar AFP.

Paul Rusesabagina, som under en längre tid varit en stark kritiker av president Paul Kagame, döms för att ha stöttat den väpnade grenen av det parti han själv grundat.

Hans familj har hävdat att åtalet är politiskt motiverat. Även USA och Europaparlamentet har uttryckt oro för hur processen gått till, skriver TT.

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Paul Rusesabagina
Wikipedia (en)
Paul Rusesabagina (Kinyarwanda: [ɾusesɑβaɟinɑ]; born 15 June 1954) is a Belgian/Rwandan politician. He worked as the manager of the Hôtel des Mille Collines in Kigali, during a period in which it housed 1,268 Hutu and Tutsi refugees from the Interahamwe militia during the 1994 Genocide against the Tutsi. None of these refugees were hurt or killed during the attacks.An account of Rusesabagina's actions during the genocide was dramatised in Terry George's film Hotel Rwanda, in which he was portrayed by American actor Don Cheadle. The film has been the subject both of critical acclaim and deep controversy, particularly in Rwanda.On the back of newly-found international fame, Rusesabagina embarked on a successful career as a public speaker, mostly touring universities in the United States. He campaigns for the Hotel Rwanda Rusesabagina Foundation, which he founded in 2006. He holds Belgian citizenship, and a US green card, and has homes in Brussels, Belgium and San Antonio, Texas.Since leaving Rwanda in 1996, he has become a prominent critic of Paul Kagame and the RPF government. He founded the PDR-Ihumure political party in 2006, and is currently President of the MRCD, a foreign-based opposition group to the Rwandan government.On 31 August 2020, believing he was taking a flight to Burundi from Dubai, he arrived in Kigali, where he was arrested on nine charges of terrorism that related to his association with the FLN (National Liberation Front), the armed wing of PDR-Ihumure, who claimed responsibility for terrorist attacks in 2018 which killed at least nine people.Rusesabagina has admitted to backing and "diplomatically" supporting the group, as evidenced in a widely-disseminated video in which he pledges his "unreserved support" for the FLN, but has denied any wrongdoing. In the video, Rusesabagina's speech includes: “The time has come for us to use any means possible to bring about change in Rwanda, as all political means have been tried and failed. It is time to attempt our last resort. Hence, I plead my unreserved support that our youth, The National Liberation forces, NLF, launches against the Kagame army in order to free the Rwandan people. As Rwandans it is important to understand that this is the only way to bring about change in the whole country.”Some of Rusesabagina's family members are suing charter airline GainJet for not disclosing the true destination of the flight to Rusesabagina.

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