The family of imprisoned ' Hotel Rwanda
' hero Paul Rusesabagina
announced on Saturday that they are suing Kigali in the United States and seeking $400 million in compensation for his alleged kidnapping and torture.
To discover
LIVE - War in Ukraine: Sergei Lavrov urges NATO to stop arming kyiv
YOUR COMMUNE - The results of the second round of the presidential election in your area
Read alsoHow Paul Rusesabagina, hero of the film
Hotel Rwanda
, arrived in Rwanda instead of Burundi
Paul Rusesabagina is currently serving a 25-year prison sentence for “
terrorism
” after a trial described by his relatives as a “
sham
” full of irregularities.
“
The complaint alleges that the government of Rwanda and high-ranking Rwandan officials conspired to facilitate and execute an elaborate plot to lure Paul Rusesabagina from his home in Texas to Rwanda, where he would be tortured and unlawfully detained for the remainder of his life. his life
,” the family and their attorneys said in a statement.
A copy of the complaint seen by AFP says it was filed in a Washington court on February 22.
It was served on the Rwandan government on March 8.
The family and lawyers of Paul Rusesabagina, who claim damages of 400 million dollars (380 million euros), will hold a press conference in Washington on Wednesday.
The complaint specifically names the Rwandan government, President Paul Kagame and other figures, including the former minister of justice and the head of the intelligence services.
Paul Rusesabagina was made famous by the film "
Hotel Rwanda
", released in 2004, which tells how this moderate Hutu who ran the Hotel Mille Collines in Kigali saved more than 1,000 people during the 1994 genocide.
Opponent for more than 20 years to Paul Kagame, whom he has accused of authoritarianism and of fueling anti-Hutu sentiment, Mr. Rusesabagina has used his Hollywood fame to give a global echo to his positions.
He had lived since 1996 in exile in the United States and Belgium, before being arrested in Kigali in August 2020 in troubled circumstances, when he got off a plane he thought was bound for Burundi.
His family denounced a "
kidnapping
" organized according to them by the Rwandan authorities, saying that he had been lured by the promise of a job in Burundi.
"
Instead, he was drugged and taken to Rwanda where President Paul Kagame's security agents forcibly abducted him, tortured him and illegally imprisoned him
,"
The Rwandan government admitted to having "
facilitated the journey
" of Mr. Rusesabagina to Kigali, but asserted that his arrest was "
lawful
" and that "
his rights were never violated
".
Paul Rusesabagina was sentenced in September to 25 years in prison for "
having founded and belonged
" to the National Liberation Front (FLN), an armed group accused of carrying out deadly attacks in Rwanda in 2018 and 2019. The Court of Appeal of Rwanda confirmed in early April the sentence of the 67-year-old opponent, who is ill.