Hero of 'Hotel Rwanda' to be released after controversial terrorism sentence commuted

By Patrick Hilsman

Paul Rusesabagina, the hero who inspired the film "Hotel Rwanda," is set to be released after having a controversial terrorism sentence commuted by Rwandan President Paul Kagame. File Photo by Heinz Ruckemann/UPI | License Photo



March 24 (UPI) -- The man whose story of saving Tutsi civilians during the Rwandan genocide was portrayed in the film Hotel Rwanda is set to be released after having a 25-year sentence on terrorism charges commuted.

Paul Rusesabagina was convicted on terrorism charges in 2021 and sentenced to 25 years after being lured from the United States to Dubai and then to Rwanda under false pretenses that he was boarding a plane to visit Burundi.

During the 1994 Rwandan genocide, Rusesabagina sheltered more than 1,000 vulnerable people, mostly Tutsis who were targeted by extremist elements of the government, in the Hotel des Mille Collines, where he was working as manager.

In 2005, then U.S. President George W. Bush awarded Rusesabagina the Presidential Medal of Freedom.

He has since become a pro-democracy activist and vocal critic of the authoritarian government of President Paul Kagame, who came to power after the collapse of the Hutu-led Rwandan government that had backed the genocide against the Tutsi ethnic minority and which ended with more than a million deaths, according to the U.N.

However, it is Kagame who commuted Rusesabagina's sentence.

Rwandan authorities claimed Rusesabagina was involved in rebel attacks 2018 and 2019, but Amnesty International reported multiple fair-trial violations in the case against him.

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In May, the U.S. State Department said that Rusesabagina had been "wrongfully detained."

Rwandan government spokesperson Yolande Makolo said "commutation of sentence does not extinguish the underlying conviction."

Qatar's Foreign Ministry spokesperson Majid Al-Ansari said Rusesabagina would first be transferred to Qatar.

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"He will then head to the United States of America," Al-Ansari said.

Late Friday, President Biden expressed appreciation about the news of Rusesabagina's release.

"I welcome today's release of Paul Rusesabagina by the government of Rwanda. Paul's family is eager to welcome him back to the United States, and I share their joy at today's good news," Biden said. "I thank the Rwandan government for making this reunion possible, and I also thank the government of Qatar for facilitating Paul's release and return to the United States. I add my gratitude to those across the U.S. government who have worked with the government of Rwanda to achieve today's happy outcome."