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A Rwandan court will deliver its deferred verdict next month in the terrorism trial of Paul Rusesabagina, the hero of “Hotel Rwanda” who has become critical of the government, the justice system announced on Friday.
Initially, a decision in the closely watched case against Rusesabagina, 67, was due on Friday, but it was delayed for no reason.
Rwandan justice said on Twitter that the court will now announce its verdict against Rusesabagina and his 20 co-defendants on September 20 at 11 a.m.
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 inside 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.
Rusesabagina, who used his fame after the 2004 film to denounce Kagame as a dictator, was arrested in August 2020 when a plane he believed was bound for Burundi landed in Kigali instead.
The trial opened in February, but Rusesabagina, a Belgian citizen and holder of the US green card, boycotted the proceedings since March, accusing the tribunal of “injustice and lack of independence”.
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