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The family of Paul Rusesabagina, hailed as a hero in a Hollywood movie about the 1994 Rwandan genocide, accused the Kigali authorities of kidnapping him, the day after he was exhibited in handcuffs to the media.
Rusesabagina was portrayed by Don Cheadle in the Oscar-nominated film ‘Hotel Rwanda’, which tells how the manager of the Rusesabagina hotel used his work and his connections to the Hutu elite to protect Tutsis fleeing the massacre.
Rusesabagina, who called for armed resistance to the government in a YouTube video, was arrested on terrorism charges in an international arrest warrant, Rwandan police said. His family disputes it.
“He was kidnapped and taken in extraordinary rendition to Rwanda,” his daughter Carine Kanimba posted on Facebook.
A spokesman for the Rwanda Bureau of Investigation did not respond to a request for comment. The justice and foreign ministers did not respond to messages that saw comments.
Another daughter, Anaise, told BBC World Service radio that her father had last called them Thursday from Dubai.
“I think he was kidnapped because he would never go to Rwanda of his own free will,” Anaise told the BBC.
Authorities in Dubai, part of the United Arab Emirates, did not return calls seeking comment on the arrest or whether the two nations have an extradition agreement.
Rusesabagina moved abroad after the genocide and gained worldwide recognition, receiving the highest civilian award in the United States, the Presidential Medal of Freedom, in 2005.
But some genocide survivors and President Paul Kagame have disputed Rusesabagina’s account of the rescue of Tutsis or accused him of exploiting the genocide for commercial gain.
Rusesabagina, whose father was Hutu but mother and wife were Tutsi, has denied exaggerating her role.
