Pastor tricked Hotel Rwanda man on to flight home, court told
A key piece of the mystery around the arrest of the man who inspired the film Hotel Rwanda has become clear, with a pastor telling a Rwandan court that he worked with someone from the Rwanda Investigation Bureau to trick him on to a private plane from Dubai.
The pastor, Constantin Niyomwungere, alleged that Paul Rusesabagina, who is facing 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 (Rwandan capital) Kigali. The only person who didn’t know where we were headed was Paul,’’ Niyomwungere said.
Rusesabagina, once praised for saving hundreds of ethnic Tutsis from Rwanda’s 1994 genocide while a hotel manager, now faces nine terror-related charges. If convicted, he could face more than 20 years in prison.
The case of Rusesabegina, a Belgian citizen and United States resident and outspoken critic of longtime Rwandan President Paul Kagame, has drawn international concern. He disappeared last August during a visit to Dubai, and was paraded in handcuffs days later in Rwanda.
His family say the charges against him are politically motivated. Rusesabagina asserts that he was kidnapped. Kagame had hinted that he had been tricked into boarding a flight to Rwanda, a country he left in 1996.
In court yesterday, Rusesabegina denounced Niyomwungere, who he has said ‘‘betrayed’’ him. They had met in 2017 in Brussels, and later become friends.
Rusesabagina said all his rights had been taken away and his international lawyers had been refused. Last month, Rwanda’s attorney-general, in a video accidentally sent to alJazeera, said authorities had intercepted messages between Rusesabagina and his legal team.
When the trial resumes on March 10, the court will rule on whether Rusesabagina was kidnapped and is in Rwanda illegally. The court earlier rejected his argument that a Rwandan court cannot try him because he is no longer a citizen.