Rwandan court upholds pre-trial detention of controversial hero of "Hotel Rwanda" movie

04 Octobre 2020

Kigali, Rwanda, October 4 (Infosplusgabon) - A Rwandan court on Friday maintained the 30-day pre-trial detention of Paul Rusesabagina, a Rwandan who remains a "hugely controversial figure" where his status as a rescue hero in 1994 in the famous 'Hotel Rwanda'movie' and who is now convincted on terrorism-related charges.

Among other charges facing the defendant include spreading false information or propaganda aimed at undermining the Rwandan government abroad, denying genocide, armed robbery, arson and engaging with the foreign government to cause war, among other crimes.

Since he fled the country shortly after the genocide in 1994, the former hotel manager became a fierce critic of the Rwandan government.

During the hearing Friday, the intermediate court of Nyarugenge in Kigali city decided to maintain the pre-trial detention against the defendant saying that there is a serious incriminating evidence pinning him.

In his initial appeal, the defendant had requested the court to grant him bail, arguing he was sick and that he would abide by any other restrictions that court will impose on him.

Rusesabagina is accused of founding the Rwandan Movement for Democratic Change (MRCD), a dissident group, suspected of having an armed wing, the National Liberation Front (FLN), branded as a terrorist organisation by Rwandan authorities.

Rusesabagina became famous after the blockbuster Hollywood movie - Hotel Rwanda - was released in 2004.

In the movie, Rusesabagina is portrayed as a hero who risked his own life to protect the Tutsi who were cornered in Hôtel des Mille Collines, which he managed during the 1994 Genocide against the Tutsi.

However, different accounts of survivors from the same hotel disputed this assertion.

FIN/ INFOSPLUSGABON/PLM/GABON2020

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