Hotel Rwanda Hero Rusesabagina Arrested and Paraded in Handcuffs
Rwandan authorities said on Monday (August 31) it had arrested Paul Rusesabagina, the man who was hailed a hero in a Hollywood movie about the country’s 1994 genocide.
The 66-year-old was paraded him in front of the media in handcuffs at the headquarters of the Rwanda Investigations Bureau.
In 2011, the former director of Hotel des Mille Collines in the Rwandan capital Kigali was accused of funding subversion in Rwanda, but no charges were brought.
He had been living in exile, in Belgium and in the United States of America. Rwandan authorities did not say where he was arrested or give any further details about the accusations he faces.
A source close to the family told African Gazette that Rusesabagina was arrested in Dubai.
He has said in the past he is the victim of a smear campaign in Rwanda.
Rusesabagina was played by Don Cheadle in the Oscar-nominated film ‘Hotel Rwanda’ which told the story of how he used his job as a hotel manager and his connections with the Hutu elite to protect Tutsis fleeing the slaughter.
He won worldwide acclaim, receiving the United States’ highest civilian award, the Presidential Medal of Freedom, in 2005.
Rwandan genocide survivors’ group Ibuka has in the past said that he exaggerated his own role in helping hotel refugees escape the 1994 genocide.
Several Rwandan opposition leaders have been jailed and others fled into exile.
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