‘Hotel Rwanda’ hero was tricked onto plane, into arrest
KIGALI, RWANDA — A key piece of the mystery around the arrest of the man who inspired the film “Hotel Rwanda” became clear on Friday when a pastor told a Rwandan court he worked with someone from the Rwanda Investigation Bureau to trick him onto a private plane from Dubai.
The pastor, Constantin Niyomwungere, alleged that Paul Rusesabagina, who now faces terror-related charges, had acknowledged that rebels backed by his opposition platform had killed Rwandans.
“Myself, the pilot and cabin crew knew we were coming to (the Rwandan capital) Kigali. The only person who didn’t know where we were headed was Paul,” Niyomwungere said.
The 66-year-old Rusesabagina, once praised for saving hundreds of ethnic Tutsis from Rwanda’s 1994 genocide while a hotel manager, now faces nine charges, including the formation of an irregular armed group; membership in a terrorist group; financing terrorism; and murder, abduction and armed robbery as an act of terrorism.
If convicted, he could face more than 20 years in prison.
The case of Rusesabagina, a Belgian citizen and U.S. resident and outspoken critic of longtime Rwandan President Paul Kagame, has drawn international concern. He disappeared in August during a visit to Dubai and was paraded in handcuffs days later in Rwanda.
His family asserts that the charges against him are politically motivated. Rusesabagina asserts that he was kidnapped. Rwanda’s president had hinted that he had been tricked into boarding a flight to Rwanda, a country he left in 1996.
In court on Friday, Rusesabagina denounced Niyomwungere, whom he has said “betrayed” him. He said all his rights have been taken away and his international lawyers have been refused. When the trial resumes on March 10, the court will rule on whether Rusesabagina was kidnapped and is in Rwanda illegally.