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Rusesabagina, who was serving a 25-year sentence in Rwanda for “terrorism,” is expected to be released on Saturday.
Paul Rusesabagina, portrayed as a hero in the Hollywood film Hotel Rwanda and serving a 25-year sentence in Rwanda for “terrorism,” has been commuted by presidential order.
Government spokeswoman Yolande Makolo told Al Jazeera on Friday that the decision came after Rusesabagina pleaded for clemency.
“No one should be aware of what that means, given the consensus that serious crimes were committed for which they were convicted,” Makolo said. Under Rwandan law, commutation “does not erase the underlying conviction,” she warned.
Rusesabagina is expected to be released on Saturday, she added.
He will first be flown to the Qatari capital, Doha, and then on to the United States, a government source told Portal.
“Rusesabagina’s release would close a case that has exposed Rwanda’s blatant disregard for international norms when it seeks to target people deemed enemies of the state — even those far beyond its borders,” said Lewis Mudge, Human Rights Central Africa director Watch, opposite Al Jazeera.
Rusesabagina was sentenced to 25 years in prison in 2021 for being part of a group responsible for “terrorist” attacks – charges he denied. He refused to attend his trial, which he described as a “sham.”
He suddenly reappeared in Rwanda in August 2020 after years in exile. Rusesabagina had boarded a plane in Dubai to travel to Burundi, but the flight took him to Kigali instead.
Human rights organizations, members of the US Congress and the European Parliament have called Rusesabagina’s transfer to Rwanda illegal under international law.
Rwanda’s Minister of Justice, Johnston Busingye, later admitted in an interview with Al Jazeera that Rwanda paid for the plane that carried Rusesabagina.
Rwanda’s President Paul Kagame signaled a possible softening of the country’s approach to Rusesabagina’s file on March 13, during a speech via video link at the Global Security Forum in Qatar’s capital, Doha.
“It is discussed, every possible way is sought to solve the problem without jeopardizing the fundamental aspects of this case. I think there will be a way forward,” Kagame said at the time.
The government spokeswoman on Friday mentioned the “constructive” role played by the US government and Qatar in resolving the case.
Rusesabagina has permanent residency status in the United States. The US labeled him “wrongly detained” in part due to what it called the lack of due process guarantees in Rwanda.
He became a global celebrity after the release of Hotel Rwanda, in which he risked his life to provide shelter to hundreds of people as the manager of a luxury hotel in Kigali during the 1994 genocide when ethnic Hutus killed more than 800,000 people, mostly Tutsi Minority.
US actor Don Cheadle was nominated for an Oscar for his role as Rusesabagina in the 2004 film.
Rusesabagina later used his fame to highlight what he described as human rights abuses by the government of Kagame, a Tutsi rebel commander who seized power after his forces seized Kigali and stopped the genocide.
This is an evolving story. Continue.