Hotel Rwanda hero convicted in ‘show trial’

THE real-life hero of the story behind Hollywood blockbuster Hotel Rwanda was found guilty of terrorism-related charges yesterday and sentenced to 25 years in prison, in what experts condemned as an unfair “show trial”.

Paul Rusesabagina, 67, was once lauded for saving more than 1,200 ethnic Tutsis and moderate Hutus in his hotel during the 1994 Rwandan genocide. Now the former hotelier, a Belgian citizen, is facing life behind bars for allegedly forming a rebel group blamed for deadly gun, grenade and arson attacks in Rwanda in 2018 and 2019.

“Rusesabagina is guilty of being a member of a terror group and participating in terror activities,” judge Beatrice Mukamurenzi said in Kigali.

At the heart of the trial is Mr Rusesabagina’s involvement with the Rwanda Movement for Democratic Change, a group opposed to President Paul Kagame’s rule.

Carine Kanimba, Mr Rusesabagina’s daughter, said: “The judges decided what the dictator wanted them to decide, we expected exactly that.”

Geoffrey Robertson, the barrister, said: “This was a show trial, rather than a fair judicial inquiry.”