Please ensure Javascript is enabled for purposes of website accessibility

Corporation for Public Broadcasting to Close After Funding Cut, in Blow to Local Media

17 hours ago

‘Freedom Week’: California Gun Owners Rush to Buy Ammo After Court Ruling

20 hours ago

Wall Street Selloff Sparked by Trump Tariffs, Amazon Results, Weak Payrolls

21 hours ago

US Construction Spending Extends Decline in June

21 hours ago

Global Shares in Red After US Jobs Data, Trump’s Tariff Salvo

21 hours ago

Construction of $200M Trump Ballroom at the White House to Begin in September

2 days ago

US Senate Committee Backs $1 Billion for Ukraine in Pentagon Spending Bill

2 days ago

Trump Says Mexico Trade Deal Extended for 90 Days

2 days ago

Fresno Unified Trustee Susan Wittrup Responds to $162,000 Payout

3 days ago
Rwanda Says Rusesabagina of 'Hotel Rwanda' Fame to Be Freed
gvw_ap_news
By Associated Press
Published 2 years ago on
March 24, 2023

Share

Getting your Trinity Audio player ready...

KIGALI, Rwanda — Rwanda’s government has commuted the sentence of Paul Rusesabagina, who inspired the film “Hotel Rwanda” for saving hundreds of countrymen from genocide but was convicted of terrorism offenses years later in a widely criticized trial.

Government spokeswoman Yolande Makolo told The Associated Press on Friday that the 25-year sentence was commuted by presidential order after a request for clemency. Under Rwandan law, commutation doesn’t “extinguish” the conviction, she added.

Rusesabagina, a 68-year-old U.S. resident and Belgian citizen, is expected to be released on Saturday, she said. Nineteen others also had their sentences commuted.

“Rwanda notes the constructive role of the U.S. government in creating conditions for dialogue on this issue, as well as the facilitation provided by the state of Qatar,” Makolo said. President Paul Kagame earlier this month said discussions were under way on resolving the issue.

Qatar foreign ministry spokesman Majid Al-Ansari in a statement said that “the procedure for (Rusesabagina’s) transfer to the state of Qatar is under way and he will then head to the United States of America. This issue was discussed during meetings that brought together Qatari and Rwandan officials at the highest levels.”

Details Surrounding His Arrest Drew International Concern

The case had been described by the United States and others as unfair. Rusesabagina disappeared in 2020 during a visit to Dubai in the United Arab Emirates and appeared days later in Rwanda in handcuffs. His family alleged he was kidnapped and taken to Rwanda against his will to stand trial.

He was convicted on eight charges including membership in a terrorist group, murder and abduction. But the circumstances surrounding his arrest, his limited access to an independent legal team and his reported worsening health drew international concern.

Rusesabagina has asserted that his arrest was in response to his criticism of Kagame over alleged human rights abuses. Kagame’s government has repeatedly denied targeting dissenting voices with arrests and extrajudicial killings.

In a signed letter to Kagame dated Oct. 14 and posted on the justice ministry’s website, Rusesabagina wrote that “if I am granted a pardon and released, I understand fully that I will spend the remainder of my days in the United States in quiet reflection. I can assure you through this letter that I hold no personal or political ambitions otherwise. I will leave questions regarding Rwandan politics behind me.”

Rusesabagina was credited with sheltering more than 1,000 ethnic Tutsis at the hotel he managed during Rwanda’s 1994 genocide in which over 800,000 Tutsi and Hutus who tried to protect them were killed. He received the U.S. Presidential Medal of Freedom for his efforts.

He became a public critic of Kagame and left Rwanda in 1996, first living in Belgium and then the U.S.

Human Rights Group Said Rusesabagina Had Been ‘Forcibly Disappeared’

Human Rights Watch said he had been “forcibly disappeared” and taken to Rwanda. But the court there ruled he wasn’t kidnapped when he was tricked into boarding a chartered flight.

Rwanda’s government asserted that Rusesabagina had been going to Burundi to coordinate with armed groups based there and in Congo.

Rusesabagina was accused of supporting the armed wing of his opposition political platform, the Rwandan Movement for Democratic Change. The armed group claimed some responsibility for attacks in 2018 and 2019 in southern Rwanda in which nine Rwandans died.

Rusesabagina testified at trial that he helped to form the armed group to assist refugees but said he never supported violence — and sought to distance himself from its deadly attacks.

Rusesabagina also has said he was gagged and tortured before he was jailed, but Rwandan authorities denied that. His attorney, Felix Rudakemwa, asserted that Rusesabagina’s legal papers were confiscated by prison authorities.

After his sentence, Belgium’s then-foreign minister, Sophie Wilmes, said that “it must be concluded that Mr. Rusesabagina has not been given a fair and equitable trial.”

Last year, U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken met with Kagame in Rwanda and discussed the case. “We still have conviction that the trial wasn’t fair,” Blinken told journalists.

As the news spread on Friday, his family in a statement said that “we are pleased to hear the news about Paul’s release. The family is hopeful to reunite with him soon.”

RELATED TOPICS:

DON'T MISS

What Are Fresno Real Estate Experts Predicting for 2025 and Beyond?

DON'T MISS

First California EV Mandates Hit Automakers This Year. Most Are Not Even Close

DON'T MISS

US Judges Speak Out About Death Threats, ‘Swattings,’ and ‘Pizza Doxings’

DON'T MISS

It’s Raining Cash for Some 2026 Fresno City Council Hopefuls

DON'T MISS

Fresno County Finds E. Coli at Avocado Lake. Don’t Swim There

DON'T MISS

Trump Fires US Labor Department’s Statistical Leader After Weaker Than Expected Jobs Report

DON'T MISS

Corporation for Public Broadcasting to Close After Funding Cut, in Blow to Local Media

DON'T MISS

Trump Eyes Bringing Azerbaijan, Central Asian Nations Into Abraham Accords, Sources Say

DON'T MISS

Farmers in West Fresno County to Consider 200% Groundwater Pumping Fee Hike

DON'T MISS

Trump Orders Nuclear Submarines Moved Near Russia

DON'T MISS

Fresno Councilmember Vang Accused of Conflict of Interest in Budget Vote

DON'T MISS

Ghislaine Maxwell Moved From Florida Prison to Lower-Security Facility

UP NEXT

Trump Orders Nuclear Submarines Moved Near Russia

UP NEXT

Trump Escalates Trade War With Canada Following Palestine Stance

UP NEXT

Global Shares in Red After US Jobs Data, Trump’s Tariff Salvo

UP NEXT

US Envoy Witkoff Visits Aid Operation in Gaza Rejected by UN as Unsafe

UP NEXT

Trump Sets 10% to 41% ‘Reciprocal’ Tariffs on Dozens of Countries’ Exports

UP NEXT

Trump’s Envoy Meets Netanyahu for Gaza Aid, Ceasefire Push

UP NEXT

US Senate Committee Backs $1 Billion for Ukraine in Pentagon Spending Bill

UP NEXT

Trump Says Mexico Trade Deal Extended for 90 Days

UP NEXT

Canada Says It Intends to Recognize a Palestinian State in September

UP NEXT

Trump Says US and Pakistan Have Concluded a Trade Deal

Trump Fires US Labor Department’s Statistical Leader After Weaker Than Expected Jobs Report

17 hours ago

Corporation for Public Broadcasting to Close After Funding Cut, in Blow to Local Media

17 hours ago

Trump Eyes Bringing Azerbaijan, Central Asian Nations Into Abraham Accords, Sources Say

17 hours ago

Farmers in West Fresno County to Consider 200% Groundwater Pumping Fee Hike

18 hours ago

Trump Orders Nuclear Submarines Moved Near Russia

18 hours ago

Fresno Councilmember Vang Accused of Conflict of Interest in Budget Vote

19 hours ago

Ghislaine Maxwell Moved From Florida Prison to Lower-Security Facility

19 hours ago

Trump Escalates Trade War With Canada Following Palestine Stance

19 hours ago

Valley Crime Stoppers’ Most Wanted Person of the Day: Scott Oscar Whitehead

20 hours ago

‘Freedom Week’: California Gun Owners Rush to Buy Ammo After Court Ruling

20 hours ago

US Judges Speak Out About Death Threats, ‘Swattings,’ and ‘Pizza Doxings’

United States judges spoke out against the unprecedented surge in violence and disturbing threats made against members of the judicial branc...

14 hours ago

United States judges speaking about receiving violent threats over rulings
14 hours ago

US Judges Speak Out About Death Threats, ‘Swattings,’ and ‘Pizza Doxings’

Fresno city hall with council campaign finance money
16 hours ago

It’s Raining Cash for Some 2026 Fresno City Council Hopefuls

E. coli identified at avocado lake
16 hours ago

Fresno County Finds E. Coli at Avocado Lake. Don’t Swim There

President Donald Trump speaks at a dinner with Republican Senators, in the State Dining Room at the White House in Washington, D.C., U.S., July 18, 2025. (Reuters File)
17 hours ago

Trump Fires US Labor Department’s Statistical Leader After Weaker Than Expected Jobs Report

Breaking News from Reuters
17 hours ago

Corporation for Public Broadcasting to Close After Funding Cut, in Blow to Local Media

President Donald Trump delivers remarks in the Roosevelt Room at the White House in Washington, D.C., U.S., July 31, 2025. (Reuters File)
17 hours ago

Trump Eyes Bringing Azerbaijan, Central Asian Nations Into Abraham Accords, Sources Say

18 hours ago

Farmers in West Fresno County to Consider 200% Groundwater Pumping Fee Hike

President Donald Trump speaks after disembarking Marine One, as he departs for Scotland, at Joint Base Andrews, Maryland, U.S., July 25, 2025. (Reuters/Evelyn Hockstein)
18 hours ago

Trump Orders Nuclear Submarines Moved Near Russia

Help continue the work that gets you the news that matters most.

Search

Send this to a friend