Milking a bull: the lies of Rusesabagina’s Belgian lawyer

On August 21, the world witnessed that there was a missing link when Rwanda deported Belgian lawyer for flouting the country’s Immigration laws. Vincent Lurquin Ferdinand, who claimed to represent Paul Rusesabagina was declared a prohibited immigrant in Rwanda after he intentionally misused and abused Rwanda’s visa regime to engage in unlicensed legal practice.

Following his illegal actions in Rwanda which led to his expulsion as a persona non grata, shamelessly on August 25, Lurquin organized a press conferences in Brussels to talk about his ordeal in Rwanda. During the press conference which lasted one and a half hours, Lurquin, bluntly lied to the media. He claimed that despite the support of the Belgian Ministry of Foreign Affairs to allow him to meet his client, Rusesabagina, Rwandan authorities refused to grant him access.

What he didn’t inform the Brussels media is that on August 20, along with a female journalist, he showed up unannounced at Nyarugenge Prison, commonly known as Mageragere, to check on his client. He was informed by prison guards that there are rules and procedures he had to comply with, which he declined.  Another lie told by Lurquin is that after his arrest, he was escorted by about 30 soldiers to his plane to return to Belgium.

This dramatization by Lurquin about his trip to Rwanda tantamounts to what I term ‘milking a bull.’ After all, he very well knows that his lies can be proved wrong by pictures that were shared by the media in Rwanda. He should appreciate the generosity and courtesy accorded by Rwandan Immigration, Police and Airport authorities. Otherwise, the weight of his crime could have landed him in jail.  

Lurquin’s fiasco came following his very own trap set when he entered Rwanda on a visitor’s visa. At that time, he claimed to be ignorant of the law and sought permission from the Rwanda Bar Association to practice his legal work in Rwandan courts by defending his ‘hero’ Rusesabagina. 

Taking his presumed ignorance of the law as the truth, Lurquin was given sufficient explanations. He was informed that in accordance to Article 7 of the Law No 83/2013 of 11/09/2013 establishing the Bar Association in Rwanda and determining its organization and functioning, foreign advocates shall be allowed to practice law in Rwanda on the basis of reciprocity between their Bar association of origin and the Rwanda Bar Association. Could it be that he didn’t understand the meaning of the term reciprocity?

Looking at the epicentre of Lurquin’s circus, Rusesabagina, is accused of 13 charges including terrorism, financing and founding armed groups, murder, arson and conspiracy to involve children in armed groups, according to Rwanda’s prosecution. The trial he shares with his 20 co-accused, is expected to come to an end on September 20, when a verdict is expected to be delivered.  Holding other factors constant, this trial is one of the most transparent trials in modern legal practice. It should be a case study on the behaviour of people like Lurquin and associates.

Public testimonies were given pinning Rusesabagina and his co-accused. 

Recent developments bring to mind events during the time of the Gacaca court system. During its initiation, Western states, academia and the likes of Lurquin contested against the system claiming that it wouldn’t render justices to the perpetrators. With time, those who castigated Gacaca came to understand that it is humanly impossible to equate judicial systems because each jurisdiction has its own distinct history and culture and above all, its own independent constitutional arrangements and institutions.

In Brussels, Lurquin is pushing to see intervention of Belgian authorities on grounds that he, as a Belgian citizen, was arrested and deported illegally. In light of his arrogance and ignorance, let me remind Lurquin that being a Belgian doesn’t wash one’s stains and being a lawyer is not a passport to committing crimes in foreign lands.  If lawyers in Belgium are permitted to fault national laws, that’s their issue. But that won’t be permitted in Rwanda.

Lurquin forgets that Rwanda is a sovereign country with institutions and laws just like The Netherlands which, back in 2017, barred the aircraft of Turkish Minister of Foreign Affairs Mevlüt Çavuşoğlu from landing and expelled Turkish Minister of Family and Social Policies Fatma Betül Sayan Kaya from the country, when both tried to speak at rallies.

Indeed, Lurquin and associates milked a bull right from Rusesabagina’s arrest in Kigali. After failing to prove their kidnapping hypothesis, which had spread like wild fire on social media and in mainstream Western media, attempts to intimidate Rwanda with motions passed by the EU parliament were futile. They still pressed on through a wagon of fellows at the American Bar Association (ABA) and the Centre for Human Rights, trying to undermine the competence of Rwandan courts. Rwanda’s learned friends not only delivered a full analysis of the ABA report, but they also gave a legal lecture to the American friends on principles of credibility, neutrality, veracity, objectivity and usefulness.

One thing that must be made clear to Lurquin and associates is that  Rwanda is not a colony of any country and regardless of the subject, the law is applied equally even for self-made heroes.