[ad_1]
KIGALI: The family of Paul Rusesabagina, the former hotelier portrayed as a hero in a film about the 1994 Rwandan genocide, called on Thursday (October 1) on the United States, the European Union and Belgium to call for his release from prison. in Rwanda.
Rusesabagina, a political dissident living in exile in Belgium and the United States, was charged with terrorism and other crimes last month after he returned to Rwanda and was arrested in August.
His case has attracted wide international attention in part because his story of protecting Tutsi guests during the genocide became a popular Hollywood movie.
Rusesabagina, who says he was tricked into returning to Rwanda, was denied the choice of defense lawyers, his family and lawyer said in an online press conference. Instead, Rusesabagina’s defense team was appointed by the Rwandan government.
“This is unprecedented,” said Peter Robinson, an American lawyer who has previously defended indicted persons in the International Criminal Court and in international war crimes tribunals for Rwanda. “They are preventing Paul from being defended by attorneys of his own choosing.”
The Foreign Ministry and the Justice Ministry did not respond to requests for comment.
Robinson said the family had appointed him and six other lawyers to defend Rusesabagina. But his local lawyer, one of the six, has not been allowed to see Rusesabagina and his government-appointed lawyers have not contacted Rusesabagina’s family, he said.
Robinson urged the United States, Belgium and the European Union to pressure the Rwandan government to release Rusesabagina, who is a Belgian citizen and lawful permanent resident of the United States. She received the highest civilian award in the United States, the Presidential Medal of Freedom, in 2005.
Rwanda has said that Rusesabagina’s trial will be swift, fair and public. But his family wants him released.
“We ask Belgium to protect its citizen and bring him home as soon as possible,” said Rusesabagina’s youngest daughter, Carine Kanimba. Rusesabagina’s eldest daughter, Lys Rusesabagina, appealed for her father to be tried in Belgium.
Rusesabagina told The New York Times during an interview after his arrest that he had been tricked into boarding a private jet that he thought was going to Burundi and that he was arrested when he landed in Rwanda.
Rusesabagina has been charged with crimes such as terrorism, terrorist financing, arson, kidnapping and murder. She told a court that she supported opposition groups but denied any role in the violence. On Friday, a Rwandan court will rule on Rusesabagina’s appeal against the denial of bail.
“My dad is surrounded by people who want him to fall, from the gunmen around him to his lawyers who want to defend him. He is fighting alone there,” said Tresor Rusesabagina, Rusesabagina’s son.
