James Tasamba
31 August 2020•Update: 31 August 2020
KIGALI, Rwanda
The Rwanda Investigation Bureau (RIB) on Monday said it has in its custody leading Rwandan dissident Paul Rusesabagina, who is accused of terror activities.
Rusesabagina allegedly heads the Rwandan Movement for Democratic Change (MRCD), which Rwanda accuses to be a terrorist organization.
In a statement, RIB said Rusesabagina, who lived in exile, was arrested through international cooperation.
He is suspected to be the founder, leader, sponsor and member of extremist terror outfits, including MRCD and PDR-Ihumure, operating out of various places in the region and abroad, it said.
He had been the subject of an international arrest warrant, wanted on charges of serious crime, including terrorism, arson, kidnap and murder, perpetrated against unarmed, innocent Rwandan civilians on Rwandan territory, including in Nyaruguru district in June 2018 and in Nyungwe, Nyamagabe district in December 2018, according to the bureau.
It added that the case is being processed in accordance with Rwandan criminal procedure.
Rusesabagina, 66, was in 2011 awarded a human rights prize by the Lantos Foundation for Human Rights and Justice, an honor criticized by Rwanda genocide survivors group.
He inspired the Hollywood film Hotel Rwanda, in which as a hotelier, he is depicted as having sheltered people during the 1994 genocide against Tutsi ethnic group.
The 2004 film told the story of how Rusesabagina used his influence as a manager to bribe, and convince military officials to secure a safe escape for about 1,200 people who sought refuge at the Mille Collines hotel in the capital Kigali.
