Hotel Rwanda’ hero denied access to lawyer, supporters say
South African press are reporting….
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. A statement overnight by the Hotel Rwanda Rusesabagina Foundation also says Rusesabagina has had no consular visits, and “while the Rwanda government said that they talked to his sons about visiting him, that is not true. Paul’s wife has called the jail and has not been allowed to talk to him.”
Paul Rusesabagina: President denies Hotel Rwanda hero was kidnapped……
Rwanda’s President Paul Kagame has said the man who inspired a Hollywood film about the 1994 genocide returned to the country of his own accord before being arrested for murder and terrorism.
Paul Rusesabagina’s family allege the political exile was kidnapped in Dubai and taken to Rwanda, where he was paraded in handcuffs this week.
The opposition figure has been accused of supporting rebels in Rwanda.
His work to save lives was depicted in the 2004 film Hotel Rwanda.
As a hotel manager, the Hutu helped save hundreds of Tutsis from the genocide, in which about 800,000 Tutsis and moderate Hutus were killed.
They were killed by Hutu extremists, who were forced from power by President Kagame and his Tutsi-dominated Rwandan Patriotic Front (RPF) after 100 days of killing.
Today the Rwandan authorities say the role of Mr Rusesabagina, 66, was exaggerated. However, he has received several human rights awards – including the US Presidential Medal of Freedom in 2005.
How did Kagame explain Rusesabagina’s return?
Speaking on national TV, the president said: “Let me eliminate the word ‘kidnap’ because that was not the case.
“Rusesabagina will attest to that himself. There was no kidnap, there was no any wrongdoing in the process of his getting here.”
He did not suggest what might have prompted Mr Rusesabagina to return, only saying: “He got here on the basis of what he believed he wanted to do and he found himself here.”
But his niece and adopted daughter, Carine Kanimba, told AFP news agency that he had been in Dubai for meetings before suddenly turning up in handcuffs in the Rwandan capital Kigali.
“I don’t know how he got to Rwanda,” she said. “However he would never have done that by his own free will, because he knows that in Rwanda they want him dead.”
Why was he arrested now?
Mr Rusesabagina’s name featured recently in a terrorism case in Rwanda. The court heard allegations that the National Liberation Front rebel group had received help from Zambia’s President Edgar Lungu because of his close friendship with Mr Rusesabagina.
IMAGE COPYRIGHTGETTY IMAGES
image captionDon Cheadle (L) played Mr Rusesabagina (R) in the film
Mr Lungu’s spokesman denied the allegation in a BBC interview.
In 2011, Mr Rusesabagina was accused of funding subversion in Rwanda, but no charges were brought.
At the time, he denied any wrongdoing and said there was a smear campaign against him.
President Kagame’s critics accuse him of not tolerating any opposition. Several opposition leaders have been jailed and others fled into exile. He says he is trying to prevent a return of ethnic hatred.
IMAGE COPYRIGHTGETTY IMAGES
