Hotel Rwanda hero Paul Rusesabagina will be freed from Kigali detention.
A Rwandan court sentenced him to 25 years in prison for terrorism in what his supporters dubbed a sham trial two years ago.
A spokesperson for the government stated that Mr. Rusesabagina’s sentence was commuted by presidential order.
68-year-old Mr. Rusesabagina is credited with rescuing approximately 1,200 individuals during the 1994 genocide.
His family said, “We are delighted to learn of Paul’s release. The family is optimistic that he will return soon.”
Mr. Rusesabagina has been the subject of international demands for his release, particularly from the United States, where he has resided since 2009. According to the Biden administration, he was “wrongfully detained.”
His family claims that the Rwandan government lured him back to Rwanda in 2020 from Texas, where he had permanent residency.
Mr. Rusesabagina departed Rwanda in 1996. His tale was unknown while he drove taxis in Brussels for a decade.
It was included in a chapter of journalist Philip Gourevitch’s 1998 book about the genocide, but it was the 2004 Hollywood film in which Don Cheadle portrayed him that brought him worldwide notoriety.
The Rwandan genocide lasted 100 days beginning in April 1994. During which 800,000 people, primarily from the Tutsi ethnic group, were murdered by Hutu extremists.
After taking cover in the building, Mr. Rusesabagina, a hotel manager, protected 1,200 people from the violence.
The following year, then-US President George W. Bush awarded him the Presidential Medal of Freedom for his endeavors. However, he turned into an ardent opponent of Rwandan President Paul Kagame.
In a video message from 2018, Mr. Rusesabagina called for a regime change, stating that “the time has come to use any means necessary to bring about change in Rwanda.”
According to his supporters, he was arrested in 2020 when a private jet he believed would transport him to Burundi instead landed in the Rwandan capital of Kigali.
He was found guilty of aiding a rebel group that killed Rwandans in 2018 and 2019 in September 2021.
Mr. Rusesabagina was released alongside Callixte Nsabimana, the representative for the opposition Rwandan Movement for Democratic Change.
A spokesperson for the Rwandan government stated, “No one should be under any illusions about what this implies. As there is consensus that they were convicted for committing serious crimes.
“According to Rwandan law, commutation of the sentence does not nullify the underlying conviction.”
“Rwanda acknowledges the U.S. government’s constructive role in fostering dialogue on this issue and Qatar’s facilitation”.
