'Hotel Rwanda' hero sentenced to 25 years on terror charges

KIGALI, Rwanda (AP) - The man who inspired the film 'œHotel Rwanda'ť for saving hundreds of his countrymen from genocide was convicted of terrorism offenses Monday and sentenced to 25 years at a trial that human rights watchdogs and other critics of Rwanda's repressive government have described as an act of retaliation.

Paul Rusesabagina, credited with sheltering ethnic Tutsis during Rwanda's 1994 genocide and a recipient of the U.S. Presidential Medal of Freedom, boycotted the announcement of the verdict after calling the trial a 'œsham.'ť

The U.S. resident and Belgian citizen was convicted on eight charges including membership in a terrorist group, murder and abduction. He was charged along with 20 other people.

The circumstances surrounding Rusesabagina's arrest last year, his limited access to an independent legal team and his reported worsening health have drawn international concern for the 67-year-old who left Rwanda in 1996.

Rusesabagina, who remains in custody, has asserted that 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.

Monday's ruling comes more than a year after Rusesabagina disappeared during a visit to Dubai, United Arab Emirates, and appeared days later in Rwanda in handcuffs, accused of supporting the armed wing of his opposition political platform, Rwandan Movement for Democratic Change.

The armed group claimed some responsibility for attacks in 2018 and 2019 in the south of the country in which nine Rwandans died. Rusesabagina testified at trial that he helped to form the armed group to help refugees but said he never supported violence - and sought to distance himself from its deadly attacks.

Throughout, Rusesabagina has maintained he is not guilty of the charges against him but said he didn't expect to get justice.

'œWe 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,'ť Rusesabagina's family said in a statement.

A member of his legal team, Kate Gibson, added that 'œthe only thing that has been surprising in watching this horror show unfold over the last year has been the brazenness and openness with which the Rwandan authorities have been willing to systematically violate all of the fair trial rights to which Paul was entitled.'ť

Government spokeswoman Yolande Makolo tweeted shortly after the sentencing that the evidence against Rusesabagina was 'œindisputable.'ť

"Rwandans will feel safer now justice has been delivered,'ť Makolo wrote.

Rusesabagina's family alleges he was kidnapped and taken to Rwanda against his will to stand trial. But the court ruled that he wasn't kidnapped when he was tricked into boarding a chartered flight. Rwanda's government has asserted that at the time he was going to Burundi to coordinate with armed groups based there and in Congo.

Rusesabagina said he was gagged and tortured before he was jailed, but Rwandan authorities denied that. His attorney, Felix Rudakemwa, has asserted that Rusesabagina's legal papers were confiscated by prison authorities. His family has feared he might die from poor health behind bars.

Amnesty International criticized the proceedings, noting that Rusesabagina was initially denied the right to choose his own lawyer. It added that Kagame's comments that 'œRusesabagina had '~done something terribly wrong, committed a crime,' may have prejudiced the defendant's right to be presumed innocent until proven guilty.'ť

Rusesabagina is credited with saving more than 1,000 people by sheltering them at the hotel he managed during the genocide in Rwanda in which more than 800,000 Tutsi and Hutus who tried to protect them were killed.