Paul Rusesabagina case: return to a controversial trial, verdict expected on September 20
Paul Rusesabagina with one of his Rwandan lawyers, Maître Gatera Gashabana, during a hearing of his trial in Kigali.
© Laure Boulard / RFI
Text by: Laure Broulard Follow
5 mins
In Rwanda, the verdict in the Paul Rusesabagina case is scheduled for September 20.
This opponent of Paul Kagame, who became famous for knowing how to save more than a thousand people during the Tutsi genocide, has been tried in Kigali for terrorism since February 2020. He faces life imprisonment.
Return on a highly controversial trial.
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From our correspondent in Kigali,
It all started with an incredible arrest.
Or rather a "kidnapping", if one believes those close to Paul Rusesabagina.
On August 27, 2020, the former manager of the Hotel des Mille Collines, who then resided in the United States, undertook a trip to Burundi with a stopover in Dubai.
His family can no longer reach him.
Four days later in Kigali, the Rwandan authorities presented him handcuffed to the press.
President Paul Kagame will quickly point out that the opponent was "duped", before former justice minister Johnston Busingye admitted that
Kigali facilitated
and even financed the robbery that took him from the United Arab Emirates. in Rwanda.
Paul Rusesabagina would therefore have boarded a private jet of his own free will, but would have arrived in Kigali instead of Bujumbura.
According to the Rwandan head of state, it is an “
irreproachable
”
operation
which has not been marred by any “
reprehensible act
”;
but in the defense of Paul Rusesabagina, this arrest, failing a proper extradition request, discredited the judicial process from the start.
Charged with terrorism
The trial begins six months later, in February 2021. Paul Rusesabagina is accused of being involved in attacks that took place in southern Rwanda in 2018, claimed by a rebel group called the FLN. According to the Rwandan authorities, they left nine dead. Paul Rusesabagina faces nine counts, including “terrorism” and “forming an armed group”. His file is joined to that of twenty co-accused, all suspected of being members of the FLN.
Long known for his moderate positions and his calls for dialogue and reconciliation, Paul Rusesabagina seems to have become radicalized, like many other opponents in exile, after Paul Kagame's third term began in 2017. The same year his party, the PDR, allied with other opposition groups to form the Rwandan Movement for Democratic Change (MRCD), of which the FLN was then presented as the armed wing.
In a video dated late 2018, just a few months after the attacks in southern Rwanda, Paul Rusesabagina supports the FLN and presents the armed struggle as the only way to overthrow the government of Paul Kagame, which he accuses of serious human rights abuses.
►
To read also: Rwandan opponent Paul Rusesabagina indicted for terrorism
His relatives denounce a political trial
However, the former manager of the Hotel des Mille Collines has always rejected any direct responsibility for the attacks for which he is implicated.
"
I do not deny that the FLN committed crimes, but my role within the MRCD was limited to diplomacy
" he declared during a preliminary hearing in September 2020, specifying that each section of the MRCD platform acted independently from others.
Very quickly, those close to the opponent denounced a political trial aimed at silencing one of the last critical voices of the Paul Kagame regime.
They point to numerous violations of the rights of the defense.
Human Rights Watch notes that "
Rusesabagina's prima facie forcible and illegal return to Rwanda is part of a well-documented crackdown on criticism of the Rwandan government, both inside and outside the country
."
The European Parliament and Belgium also express concerns about the conditions of his arrest and the fairness of the proceedings.
Paul Rusesabagina, he boycotted the hearings from March.
► To read also: Rwanda: the opponent Paul Rusesabagina refuses to continue to participate in his trial
For its part, the Rwandan government has been defending its legitimacy from the start in trying this case: “
Our judicial system has proven its capacity and its experience.
There is no reason for him to be tried elsewhere.
Several jurisdictions have already transferred cases to Kigali: the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda, but also certain European countries,
”says Yolande Makolo, the government's spokesperson.
“
This trial is quite simply a question of justice and protection of Rwandans.
The victims of these attacks seek redress.
She assures that evidence proving that he was giving direct orders to the FLN were found at his home during a search carried out by the Belgian authorities.
An unprecedented affair
The Rusesabagina affair is quite unprecedented in the history of Rwandan justice, due to the size of the case - around 10,000 pages of documents, some fifty civil parties - and the international reputation of the main accused. During nearly six months of hearings, the prosecution presented its witnesses.
A certain Noël Habiyaremye, presented as a former high-ranking member of the FDLR, a Hutu rebel group based in eastern DRC, claims at the bar that Paul Rusesabagina sent him more than 8,000 dollars to recruit fighters ;
Michelle Martin
, an American citizen posing as a former volunteer of the Paul Rusesabagina Foundation, assures us that he had close links with extremist Hutu groups, see deniers of the Tutsi genocide. But the credibility of her testimony will quickly be questioned: towards the end of the hearing, she admits to having worked for the Rwandan government. And it is finally, the former spokesperson of the FLN, Callixte Nsabimana, who testifies in his favor during his final remarks to the court: “
He was never part of the FLN.
He's a civilian, not a soldier,
”he says.
“
The prosecution showed no credible evidence of my father's involvement in these attacks.
He never believed in violence.
All this is invented,
”assures for her part Carine Kanimba, the adopted daughter of the opponent.
“
For us, this court decision will mean nothing.
He was kidnapped, tortured, he was deprived of all his rights,
”she concludes.
► To read also: Rwanda: the lawyer and relatives of Paul Rusesabagina request his transfer to Brussels
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