‘Hotel Rwanda’ inspiration sentenced to more than 2 dozen years in prison

Paul Rusesabagina, the man who inspired the film “Hotel Rwanda”, was convicted and sentenced to 25 years in prison Monday. The video above shows clips from the sentencing, as well as comments from author and journalist Joshua Hammer.

Rusesabagina is credited with saving more than 1,000 people by sheltering them at the hotel he managed during the 1994 genocide in Rwanda. The genocide, on which the movie, “Hotel Rwanda” was based, led to the deaths of more than 800,000 Tutsi, as well as, the deaths from the Hutus who tried to protect them.

The U.S. resident and Belgian citizen was convicted and sentenced to a Rwanda prison on nine charges. These include the formation of an illegal armed group, membership in a terrorist group, financing a terror group, murder and abduction. He was charged along with 20 other people.

Monday’s ruling comes more than a year after Rusesabagina disappeared during a visit to Dubai. He appeared days later in Rwanda in handcuffs, accused of supporting the armed wing Rwandan Movement for Democratic Change. The group had claimed some responsibility for attacks in 2018 and 2019 in southern Rwanda. Nine Rwandans died in the attacks.

Rusesabagina has asserted his arrest was in response to his criticism of longtime Rwandan President Paul Kagame over alleged human rights abuses. Kagame’s government has repeatedly denied targeting dissenting voices with arrests and extrajudicial killings.

The circumstances surrounding Rusesabagina’s arrest, his limited access to an independent legal team and his reported worsening health have drawn international concern for the 67-year-old. Human rights watchdogs and other critics of Rwanda’s repressive government have described the arrest as an act of retaliation.

Rusesabagina’s family alleges he was kidnapped and taken to Rwanda against his will after tricking him into boarding a chartered flight. “We knew from the day he was kidnapped that the verdict would be ‘guilty’ on some or all of the false charges. We are happy that the charade of the trial is ending,” Rusesabagina’s family said in a statement.

However, the Rwandan court ruled Rusesabagina wasn’t kidnapped. Rwanda’s government has asserted Rusesabagina was going to Burundi to coordinate with armed groups based there and in Congo.