Hotel Rwanda hero arrested on terror charges, say police

Paul Rusesabagina, who was portrayed in the film Hotel Rwanda as a hero who saved the lives of more than 1,200 people from the country’s 1994 genocide, has been arrested by the Rwandan government on terror charges.

A well-known critic of President Paul Kagame, Rusesabagina had been living outside Rwanda since 1996 and police did not say where he was apprehended. He had been living in Belgium and then in Texas in the US.

In handcuffs and a facemask, Rusesabagina, 66, was shown to the press in Rwanda’s capital, Kigali, on Monday by police. He has not yet been formally charged in court.

“Rusesabagina is suspected to be the founder, leader, sponsor and member of violent, armed, extremist terror outfits including the Rwanda Movement for Democratic Change (MRCD) operating out of various places in the region and abroad,” police said.

There was an international arrest warrant for Rusesabagina to answer charges of serious crimes including terrorism, arson, kidnap and murder, perpetrated against unarmed, innocent Rwandan civilians on Rwandan territory, police said. Police told the media in Kigali that investigations against Rusesabagina will continue and more information will be released about his alleged activities.

Rusesabagina has previously denied the government’s charges that he financially supports Rwandan rebels.

His daughter told the Associated Press that Rusesabagina had travelled from the US to Dubai last week where he was kidnapped and taken to Rwanda.

Carine Kanimba said the family was informed early on Monday that he was being held in Rwanda. She said none of the family has been able to speak to him and they are worried he may not be getting his hypertension medication.

Rusesabagina has been a prominent critic of Mr Kagame’s government, calling it a dictatorship and urging Western countries to press the government to respect human rights.

Government supporters reject Rusesabagina’s criticism, saying Mr Kagame’s leadership supports democracy and economic growth.

Rusesabagina has won numerous international honours including the United States Presidential Medal of Freedom, which President George W Bush awarded him in 2005.

“Rusesabagina has been among the most prominent critics of the Rwandan government and an opponent to President Kagame. His arrest will definitely weaken those who oppose Kagame’s leadership,” Gonza Muganwa, a Rwandan political analyst told The Associated Press.

The 2004 film Hotel Rwanda showed Rusesabagina, a Hutu married to a Tutsi, as using his influence as a manager of the Hotel des Mille Collines, to allow more than 1,200 Tutsis to shelter in the hotel’s rooms. In the film, Rusesabagina was played by actor Don Cheadle.

Naphtal Ahishakiye, executive secretary of Ibuka, a Rwanda survivors’ organisation, said that Rusesabagina’s arrest is good news for survivors of the genocide. Mr Ahishakiye said Rusesabagina had charged people money to be able to survive in the hotel.