Opinion
Appeals to release Rusesabagina make no sense
It’s
been two years since Paul Rusesabagina, a terror convict who was elevated by
his Western backers into a Hollywood hero by the fictitious “Hotel Rwanda”
film, was arrested in Rwanda. In September 2021, he was convicted of terrorism
by a Rwandan court. He is serving 25 years in jail.
At
the beginning of the trial, he showed signs that he may eventually atone for
his crimes. But as the case progressed, faced with overwhelming evidence
pinning him on atrocities he masterminded as boss of MRCD and its military wing, FLN, he recoiled and boycotted
trial.
But as
the rules of procedure of Rwandan courts prescribe, the trial continued in his
absence. A court of appeal upheld his 25-year sentence, in April 2022.
Numerous
letters by Westerners requesting Rwanda to immediately release Rusesabagina have
been flowing before and after his trial, with accusations of Rwandan agents kidnapping
him and of an unfair trial. His trial was streamed live, online, for everyone
interested in the hearings. But despite all effort made by the Rwandan justice
system to ensure a fair trial, there are continuous attempts to intimidate Rwandan
authorities to set free a charged and convicted terrorist. One recent attempt
was through the letter
written by US Senator Robert Menendez of New Jersey, to US Secretary of State,
Antony Blinken, calling for the US to sanction Rwanda. In this July 2022 letter,
the Senator served as an advocate of anti-Rwanda lobbies whose narrative is
built on mere fabrications. The latter lobbies are paid by the likes of the
terror-group Rwanda National Congress (RNC), and its backers.
Menendez’s
letter was part of a larger, or international-scale, intimidation scheme pushing to free
Rusesabagina. It followed the resolution
of October 2021 by the EU Parliament, condemning Rusesabagina’s arrest,
questioning the fairness of the verdict against him, and urging the EU to step
up efforts to get him freed and repatriated to Belgium.
In
September 2021, Belgian vice Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs, Sophie
Wilmès, wrote to Rwandan authorities expressing contempt of Rwanda's judicial
independence and impartiality in the sentencing
of Rusesabagina. The US Congress voted a resolution in July 2022 which called
on the Rwandan government to immediately
release Rusesabagina on humanitarian grounds.
Rusesabagina’s
family, its lobbyists and other anti-Rwanda government individuals use
different media platforms in challenging the country to free the convict whose
atrocities led to death of nine people, in Southwestern Rwanda. Rusesabagina
supporters even believed Blinken’s trip to Kigali in August 2022 was the most
powerful influence, yet it gained nothing other than humiliation.
Rusesabagina’s
family shifted their campaign to petitions. A number of their donors continue
pouring in cash, unknowingly, thinking that they are contributing to
humanitarian causes, yet they are sponsoring terrorism, and supporting criminal
individuals who are filling their own pockets.
The main
campaigners, Anaїse and Carine Kanimba, Rusesabagina’s adoptive daughters, are
in big business. They collect huge sums of money the same way their adoptive
father did; preparing fundraisers for the Hotel Rwanda Rusesabagina Foundation,
which their father used to obtain funds to sponsor deadly terrorist attacks.
Apart
from being deceitful for personal gains, all the attempts to release Rusesabagina
will fail.
He
was lucky not to get a life sentence, the maximum sentence prescribed for the
crimes he was convicted for.