The daughter of Paul Rusesabagina, hero of the film "
Hotel Rwanda
" tried since Wednesday in Kigali for "
terrorism
", demanded Friday February 19 to Belgium to intervene to release and repatriate her father, a Belgian national, and denounces a "
trial inequitable
”.
Read also: How Paul Rusesabagina, hero of the film
Hotel Rwanda
, arrived in Rwanda instead of Burundi
Former manager of the Hotel des Mille Collines in Kigali, Paul Rusesabagina, 66, was made famous by a 2004 film recounting how he saved more than 1,000 people during the Rwandan genocide.
This moderate Hutu then became a critic of the regime of Rwandan President Paul Kagame.
Living in exile since 1996 in the United States and Belgium, a country from which he obtained nationality, he was arrested at the end of August in Rwanda in troubled circumstances, when a plane he thought was bound for the Burundi.
"
Belgian consular assistance is not effective, he is denied access to his lawyers, he is denied his medication, and he is locked in a windowless room
," his daughter Carine Kanimba was indignant during the interview. a press conference.
The Belgian authorities "
must request that he be brought back here to Belgium (...) because there will be no fair trial in Rwanda
", she continued.
Paul Rusesabagina is targeted by 13 charges, including those of terrorism, murder and rebellion financing, for his alleged support for the National Liberation Front (FLN), a rebel group accused of deadly attacks in Rwanda.
His lawyers accused the Rwandan regime of having him "
abducted
", and the NGO Human Rights Watch (HRW) denounced a "
enforced disappearance
".
Paul Rusesabagina disputes the right of the Kigali court to try him, because of his Belgian nationality.
To read also: The strange arrest of the hero of "Hotel Rwanda"
His relatives say they are "
very worried
" about his health, because the drugs against hypertension that they wanted to transmit to him via the Belgian diplomatic bag, according to them, never reached him.
"
A complaint was filed in the United States and here in Belgium, where I had contact with the federal prosecutor
", underlines the lawyer of the family, Vincent Lurquin, judging that the justice of the country is competent on this "
kidnapping
”of a Belgian national.
"
We hope that the prosecution and the examining magistrate will request a rogatory commission
" and that "
the Belgian government will ask the Rwandan government to accept the transfer
" of Paul Rusesabagina to Belgium.
While American diplomacy called on Kigali to "
respect the rule of law
", "
the Belgian government is not moving (...) It is a silence that risks becoming an accomplice
", accused Me Lurquin.
"
The example that the Belgian government gives is that if a Belgian citizen is kidnapped by a dictatorial government, Belgium will not budge for its national
", abounds Carine Kanimba, calling on Brussels to "
take its responsibility
" to release his father.
Contacted by AFP, the Belgian Foreign Ministry had not yet reacted mid-afternoon Friday.
