Rwanda’s President Kagame Defends Trial of Genocide Hero

According to the President who spoke in a nationally televised interview, Paul Rusesabagina, who is now a prominent Kagame critic was in the dock because people had died as a result of his later actions.

Rusesabagina, 67, is being charged with being a terrorist mastermind who financed a rebel group behind a string of deadly attacks in the east African country.

The accused and his family have long rejected the allegations and say the former hotelier is only a victim of a politically-motivated show trial despite being a founder of the Rwandan Movement for Democratic Change (MRCD), an opposition group of which the FLN is seen as the armed wing.

Rusesabagina, who is a Hutu subsequently became an outspoken Kagame critic and lived in exile in the US and Belgium since 1996.

He was arrested in August last year when a plane he believed was bound for Burundi landed in Kigali instead, a move his supporters describe as a kidnapping.

He is presently facing a nine-count charge, including terrorism,although he has boycotted proceedings since March, accusing the court of unfairness and a lack of independence.

Rwanda’s President, Kagame has been in power since 1994 and is accused by critics of crushing opponents and ruling through fear.

Rusesabagina, who is a Hutu subsequently became an outspoken Kagame critic and lived in exile in the US and Belgium since 1996.

He was arrested in August last year when a plane he believed was bound for Burundi landed in Kigali instead, a move his supporters describe as a kidnapping.

He is presently facing a nine-count charge, including terrorism,although he has boycotted proceedings since March, accusing the court of unfairness and a lack of independence.

Kagame has been in power since 1994 and is accused by critics of crushing opponents and ruling through fear.