[ad_1]
Prosecutors are calling for life imprisonment for Paul Rusesabagina, whom they accuse of supporting the rebel group of the National Liberation Front.
A Rwandan court will deliver its deferred verdict next month in the terrorism trial of Paul Rusesabagina, the hero of the Rwanda hotel who has become a critic of the government, the justice system has announced.
Initially, a decision in the closely watched case against Rusesabagina, 67, was due on Friday, but was delayed without giving a reason.
Rusesabagina is charged with 13 counts, including terrorism, financing and founding armed groups, murder, arson and conspiracy to involve children in armed groups.
Rwandan justice said on Twitter on Friday that the court would now announce its verdict against Rusesabagina and his 20 co-defendants on September 20.
According to Kitty Kurth, spokesperson for the Hotel Rwanda Foundation in Rusesabagina, the 20 co-accused are also accused of terrorism and “all pleaded guilty and incriminated him”.
Prosecutors have called for a life sentence for Rusesabagina, the former hotelier credited with saving hundreds of lives in the 1994 genocide, and whose bravery inspired the Hollywood film Hotel Rwanda.
The government of President Paul Kagame accuses him of supporting the National Liberation Front (FLN), a rebel group accused of attacks in Rwanda in 2018 and 2019 that left nine dead.
Rusesabagina denied any involvement in the attacks, but was one of the founders of the Rwandan Movement for Democratic Change (MRCD), an opposition group of which the FLN is considered the armed wing.
His family and supporters insist the charges against him are fabricated and campaigned around the world for his release, claiming he was kidnapped overseas and not allowed to meet international lawyers.
Rusesabagina, who used his fame after the 2004 film to denounce Kagame as a dictator, was living in exile in Belgium and was arrested in August 2020 when a plane he believed was bound for Burundi instead landed in Kigali.
The trial opened in February, but Rusesabagina, a Belgian citizen and holder of the American green card, boycotted the procedure since March, accusing the court of “injustice and lack of independence”.
Presiding Judge Antoine Muhima has ruled that the trial will continue.
[ad_2]
Source link
