Opposition leader Paul Rusesabagina, the hero who inspired the film "Hotel Rwanda", is expected to be released on Saturday after his 25-year prison sentence for "terrorism" was "commuted", a Rwandan government spokeswoman told AFP on Friday (March 24th).
Paul Rusesabagina's conviction dating from September 2021 has been "commuted by presidential order", said spokeswoman Yolande Makolo about the case, which has sparked international and human rights opposition.
This news comes less than two weeks after President Paul Kagame announced that "discussions" were underway regarding the imprisonment of the opponent.
Paul Rusesabagina's supporters believe that his trial was a sham marked by irregularities. And his family insisted on the 68-year-old's declining health.
Opponent of Paul Kagame for more than 20 years
A court upheld his conviction in May 2022, as well as most of those of his 20 co-defendants, who received sentences of three to <> years in prison.
Paul Rusesabagina was made famous by the film "Hotel Rwanda" which tells how this moderate Hutu who ran the Hotel des Mille Collines in the Rwandan capital saved more than 1,000 people during the genocide of the Tutsi in 1994.
An opponent for more than 20 years of Paul Kagame, whom he accused of authoritarianism and fueling anti-Hutu sentiment, Paul Rusesabagina has used his Hollywood fame to give a global echo to his positions.
Human rights defenders accuse Rwanda – ruled with an iron fist by Paul Kagame since the end of the 1994 genocide in which 800,000 people were killed – of cracking down on freedom of expression and opposition.
With AFP
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