© KEYSTONE/AP/LAWRENCE JACKSON
Rwanda’s Court of Appeal confirmed on Monday the 25-year prison sentence for “terrorism” of opponent Paul Rusesabagina, made famous by the film “Hotel Rwanda”, rejecting the appeal of the prosecution who wanted a heavier sentence. .
“Given that he is a first-time offender, the court considers that his sentence should not be increased because the 25 years he has obtained are in line with the weight of his crimes and the court maintains his sentence,” said the judge François Regis Rukundakuvuga, following a day of hearing.
Known for being a virulent opponent of Rwandan President Paul Kagame, he was sentenced in September to 25 years in prison for “having founded and belonged” to the National Liberation Front (FLN), an armed group accused of having carried out deadly attacks in Rwanda in 2018 and 2019.
The prosecution, which had requested life imprisonment, had appealed, wishing to see his sentence increased. Prosecutors had also appealed the sentences – from three to 20 years in prison – imposed on his 20 co-defendants.
Political trial denounced
Rusesabagina, 67, and his family have always denied these accusations and denounced a trial intended to muzzle an opponent.
He was not present on Monday when the verdict was read. His family, which continues to warn regarding his state of health, announced in mid-January that he “will not participate in the staging of the appeal of a political prisoner”.
The accused and his lawyers had already boycotted the majority of the first instance hearings, denouncing a “political” trial as well as ill-treatment in detention.
Paul Rusesabagina was made famous by the film “Hotel Rwanda” released in 2004 and which tells how this moderate Hutu who ran the Hotel Mille Collines in Kigali saved more than 1,000 people during the 1994 genocide, during which 800,000 people were killed, according to the UN, mainly from the Tutsi minority.
Opponent for more than 20 years to Paul Kagame, whom he accused of authoritarianism and of fueling anti-Hutu sentiment, Rusesabagina has used his Hollywood fame to give a global echo to his positions.
He had been living in exile in the United States and Belgium since 1996, before being arrested in Kigali in 2020 in troubled circumstances on the descent of a plane he was planning to Burundi.
