‘Hotel Rwanda’ hero denied access to lawyer, supporters say

JOHANNESBURG — Supporters of the man portrayed in “Hotel Rwanda” say Rwandan authorities have denied a lawyer access to Paul Rusesabagina nearly a week after the outspoken government critic was paraded in handcuffs and accused of terrorism.

In a statement early Saturday, the Hotel Rwanda Rusesabagina Foundation said Rusesabagina, a U.S. permanent resident and Belgian citizen, has had no consular visits, and it rejected the Rwandan government's claim that it had talked to his sons about a potential visit as “not true.”

“Paul’s wife has called the jail and has not been allowed to talk to him,” it added.

The family has said they believe he was “kidnapped” during a visit to Dubai and that he would never knowingly have boarded a plane for Rwanda’s capital, Kigali. He has lived outside the East African nation since 1996.

Rusesabagina was awarded the U.S. Presidential Medal of Freedom in 2005 for saving the lives of more than 1,200 people as a hotel manager during Rwanda's 1994 genocide in which some 800,000 Tutsis and moderate Hutus were killed.

Rwandan authorities have not responded to questions about how and where Rusesabagina was apprehended, and have not publicly shared any international arrest warrant. They have referred to “international cooperation” but given no details.

“There is a deliberate effort to sanitize and present Rusesabagina as a victim,” the state-run Rwandan newspaper The New Times said in an editorial Saturday that rejected allegations he was arrested because of his criticism of the government.

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Rwandan authorities have granted what they called an “exclusive” interview with Rusesabagina to a Kenyan newspaper, The East African, in which he said he had been treated with “kindness” but did not discuss the accusations against him or how he was apprehended.

It is not clear when Rusesabagina will appear in court. Rwandan law says a suspect can be in provisional detention for 15 days, renewable for up to 90 days.

The Rwandan government has said it issued an arrest warrant for Rusesabagina to answer charges of serious crimes including terrorism, arson, kidnap, and murder perpetrated against unarmed civilians. Police called him the suspected “founder, leader, sponsor and member of violent, armed, extremist terror outfits including the Rwanda Movement for Democratic Change.”

Rwanda points to a video posted online in 2018 in which Rusesabagina says “it is imperative that in 2019 we speed up the liberation struggle of the Rwandan people … the time has come for us to use any means possible to bring about change in Rwanda, as all political means have been tried and failed.”

The MRCD has an armed wing, the National Liberation Front, that has been accused of attacks inside Rwanda in 2018 and 2019. Rwanda arrested NLF spokesman Callixte Nsabimana last year.

Rusesabagina in the past has denied the charges that he financially supports Rwandan rebels, saying he is being targeted for criticizing the administration of President Paul Kagame over human rights abuses.

Rusesabagina’s detention has prompted concern among human rights activists that this was the latest example of the Rwandan government targeting critics beyond its borders.

The U.S. government has said it expects the Rwandan government to provide “humane treatment, adhere to the rule of law and provide a fair and transparent legal process” for Rusesabagina.