Rwanda hotel hero refuses to attend terrorism trial

The man portrayed as a hero in a Hollywood film about the Rwandan genocide has said he will no longer appear at his terrorism trial.

“Because the court denies me my rights in this trial, I am not expecting justice here, so I will not appear in this trial again,” Paul Rusesabagina told the court in Rwanda’s capital, Kigali.

Earlier in Friday’s hearing, he asked the court for six months to prepare for his trial – and to be able to choose his own defense team, including his Belgian lawyer.

But the court rejected his request citing the non-reciprocity between the Belgian and Rwandan bars, and “denying the right to a timely justice” to the 20 other suspects tried with him.

He is now likely to be tried in absentia.

The 66-year-old was detained in unclear circumstances in Dubai last August. He says he was illegally kidnapped and airlifted to Rwanda, but the court says he was deceived and must be tried.

A fierce critic of Rwandan President Paul Kagame, he is accused of having sponsored deadly attacks in Rwanda in 2018 and 2019 by the FLN, the armed wing of the Rwandan Movement for Democratic Change (MRCD), a coalition of opposition parties including he is the vice-president.

He rose to fame after Don Cheadle played him in the 2004 film Hotel Rwanda, which described his efforts to save hundreds of people from murder during the 1994 genocide.

He left Rwanda in 1996 and applied for asylum in Belgium, where he was granted citizenship. He then obtained a green card for the United States, getting involved in opposition politics in exile.

His lawyers have denied the charges against him.