The trial of ‘Hotel Rwanda’ film star Paul Rusesabagina started in Rwanda’s capital Kigali with the terror suspect challenging the court’s authority to try him with his argument that he’s a Belgian national who was kidnapped and forcefully taken to Rwanda where he is held hostage. “I, as a Belgian national here, was kidnapped and arrested unlawfully,” said Rusesabagina in reference to his mysterious transfer from Dubai to Kigali on 27 August, 2020.
Rusesabagina mysteriously appeared at the Rwandan Investigation Bureau (RIB) headquarters in Kigali on 31 August, 2020 before being charged with terrorism. During the trial on Wednesday, Rusesabagina claimed Belgium nationality, insisting he was “kidnapped in Dubai and unlawfully detained in Rwanda”. The prosecution insisted he was Rwandan considering he has never legally dropped the Rwandan nationality of origin.
The state prosecutors referred to the case lodged by Rusesabagina in the East African Court of Justice against the Government of Rwanda in which he refers to himself as a Rwandan national.
“I have only one passport and an Identity card from Belgium which confirms my Belgian nationality. If I am Rwandan, why did authorities report me to the Belgian authorities when they leveled accusations against me? I don’t know what the Rwandan laws say about nationality because I’m not Rwandan,” said Rusesabagina.
Rusesabagina’s lawyer Gatera Gashabana told court his client could not be tried in Rwanda because both Rwanda and Belgium prosecution teams had already agreed during previous investigations that he was a Belgian national who could only face trial in Belgium
Lawyer Gashabana gave the example of a joint interrogation between Belgium and Rwandan authorities on October 18 2019 in Belgium during which Rusesabagina’s residence was searched and gadgets seized. During this period, Rwandan authorities considered and treated Rusesabagina as a Belgian national.
In response, the state attorneys said they were not pursuing Rusesabagina for allegedly abetting crimes of the FDLR in 2010 as that matter was under the Belgian authorities but the crimes committed in 2018 by the FNL rebel group which he allegedly heads. Rusesabagina continued to insist he was Belgian and that Rwandan courts could not try him.
“In 2003, I returned to Rwanda as a Belgian national and was received as such. I just appeared in Rwanda forcibly after being kidnapped. I didn’t come to Rwanda voluntarily. After losing my Rwandan nationality, I have never tried to regain it,” he insisted. Rwandan prosecutors said Rusesabagina remained a Rwandan with a duo nationality as he accepts he was born of Rwandan parents and has Rwandan nationality by origin.
They challenged Rusesabagina to prove how he forsook his Rwandan nationality and became Belgian. Callixte Nsabimana, one of the former rebels who reportedly worked with Rusesabagina, said the latter was the leader of the rebel movement which sought to oust President Paul Kagame.
Nsabimana wondered how Rusesabagina, who wanted to be president of Rwanda, could deny Rwandan nationality. “It is a shame,” said Nsabimana.
Tricky case
The court case has become so tricky for Rwanda considering that Rusesabagina was not legally extradited from Dubai. The European Union Parliament recently issued a strongly-worded statement seeking the release of Rusesabagina, saying a lawful detention and transfer of a suspect from one country to another to face criminal proceedings should be “accomplished through extradition proceedings, overseen by an independent tribunal” which was not the case with Rusesabagina.
In a resolution, the EU parliament urged the Rwandan government to “show its willingness to conduct transparent, credible and independent investigations, and provide a complete and corroborated account of how Paul Rusesabagina was apprehended and transferred to Kigali.” President Paul Kagame last year suggested that Rusesabagina came of his own accord.
“With kidnap, that was not the case, and he will attest that to himself. There was no kidnap. There was no wrongdoing in the process of his getting here,” Kagame said, describing the handling of the case as “flawless”. The president suggested that Rusesabagina was told a story that fit into his expectations and ended up in Rwanda.
“How he got here was more to do with himself than anybody else,” Kagame said. “And he will say it; when the time comes, he will the people what happened.” Kagame appeared confident at the time that Rusesabagina would cooperate with authorities to tell a story of his voluntary return to Rwanda.
However, energized by the international community’s backing, Rusesabagina is now determined to fight for his freedom and challenge the competence of Rwandan courts to try him. “This court doesn’t have the legitimacy to try me and I ask my lawyer to clearly state the reasons,” he said.
More reasons
Apart from receiving international support, Rusesabagina is a very popular figure in the western world. He was the managing director of the Hotel “Des Mille Collines” in Kigali during the genocide in 1994 who offered shelter and protection to 1268 Tutsis and moderate Hutus who were fleeing from the killing.
He is an internationally acknowledged human rights hero whose story was told in the film Hotel Rwanda and his laudable role was awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom in 2005, the highest civilian award in the US, by then-president George W. Bush.
Rwanda has tried to discredit this story but this occurred after Rusesabagina’s fallout with President Kagame. Rusesabagina is a co-founder of the opposition Rwandan Movement for Democratic Change (MRCD) which Kigali accuses of engaging in acts of terrorism.
Rusesabagina is facing 13 charges, including terrorism, financing terrorism, recruiting child soldiers, kidnapping, arson, and forming terrorist groups. During his first court appearance in September, he refused to enter a plea.
Rwandan authorities said Rusesabagina was arrested because he is believed to be the leader, founder and sponsor of a violent extremist group operating in Rwanda and more widely, known as MRCD/FLN.
The international arrest warrant under which he has been detained included accusations that in June and July 2018 in Nyungwe, and in December 2018 in Nyamagabe, attacks by the MRCD/FLN were carried out against innocent Rwandan civilians which left nine people dead and several seriously injured.
EU support
The EU Parliament expressed its deep concerns at the medical condition of Rusesabagina and called on the Rwandan government to ensure appropriate medical assistance and allow him to take his usual medication and that his medical situation should be monitored by a doctor in Belgium, as requested by the Belgian Foreign Minister on 4 February 2021.
The lawmakers said Rusesabagina was denied access to legal counsel of his choosing and that his indictment, case file and other documents necessary for the preparation of his defence were confiscated on 23 December 2020 by the Prison Director of Mageragere Prison.
The family of Rusesabagina said it was extremely concerned about his medical condition as he is a cancer survivor and suffers from a cardiovascular disorder for which he takes prescribed medication.
The family said Rusesabagina’s medication his family sent via the diplomatic pouch of the Belgian Embassy in Rwanda was reportedly never administered to him yet he receives medication prescribed by a Rwandan doctor without knowing what kind of drug it incorporates.
All these issues have kept Rusesabagina’s trial in the international media, piling pressure on Kagame’s government.
Matters were worsened by the suspicious death in police custody of Kizito Mihigo, a Rwandan singer, in February 2020 as well as Patrick Karegeya, Rwanda’s former spy chief and later a critic in exile, who was murdered in a Johannesburg hotel on January 1, 2014.
In a recent interview with CNN’s Richard Quest President Kagame said Rusesabagina’s attempts to deny Rwandan nationality “would not work” but also promised a “fair trial” of the suspect.