“Given that he is a first-time offender, the court considers that his sentence should not be increased because the 25 years he has been granted is in line with the weight of his crimes and the court maintains his sentence,” said the judge François Regis Rukundakuvuga, following nearly seven hours of hearing.
Known to be a virulent opponent of Rwandan President Paul Kagame, Paul Rusesabagina – who has Belgian nationality – was sentenced in September to 25 years in prison for “having founded and belong” to the National Liberation Front (FLN), armed group accused for carrying 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.
Mr. 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.
Mr. 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.
Opposing President Paul Kagame for more than twenty years, whom he has 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 August 2020 in troubled circumstances when a plane he thought was bound for Burundi.
His family denounced a “kidnapping” organized according to them by the Rwandan authorities.
The Rwandan government has admitted to having “facilitated the journey” of Mr Rusesabagina to Kigali, but asserted that his arrest was “lawful” and that “his rights were never violated”.
In March, the UN Working Group on Arbitrary Detention concluded that Rusesabagina has been “abducted” and that his detention is “arbitrary”, calling for his immediate and unconditional release.
Contacted by AFP, Rusesabagina’s daughter stated before the Court of Appeal’s decision that “this verdict handed down by a biased court at the behest of the government has no legitimacy” and reiterated that it it was a “mock trial” designed to muzzle any opposition.
“Our focus is now entirely on our father’s health. My father recently had a stroke in prison. He now has partial facial paralysis. (…) He is ill and in urgent need of medical treatment” , underlined Carine Kanimba, saying: “Paul Kagame will kill him if we do nothing”.
The first instance conviction had aroused great concern in the international community.
Belgium considered, through its Minister of Foreign Affairs, Sophie Wilmès, that Mr. Rusesabagina had “not benefited from a fair and equitable trial”.
The United States, which awarded him the Presidential Medal of Freedom in 2005, said it was “concerned” by the conviction.
In early October, MEPs demanded his release for “humanitarian reasons” and his repatriation to Belgium.
To put pressure on Kigali, MEPs had also asked the European Commission for “a critical review of the aid provided by the European Union” to the Rwandan government and institutions.
