⁍ Lawyers of Paul Rusesabagina, depicted as a hero in a Hollywood movie about Rwanda’s 1994 genocide, say they have been stopped from seeing their client.
⁍ Rusesabagina was arrested in August after returning to the country and subsequently charged with terrorism and other offences.
⁍ An estimated one million Tutsis and moderate Hutus were massacred in the genocide.
– Paul Rusesabagina, the hotel manager portrayed as a hero in the movie Hotel Rwanda, is in detention in Rwanda, and his lawyers say authorities have blocked them from seeing him. Rusesabagina, a political dissident who has lived in exile in Belgium and the US, was arrested in August after returning to the country and subsequently charged with terrorism and other offenses, Reuters reports. His lawyers, Vincent Lurquin and Philippe Larochelle, say they tried to get required clearance from the head of the Rwanda Bar Association to see their client, but “I was nowhere to be found and I was never able to meet Rusesabagina during my stay in Rwanda,” Larochelle says. “It’s really painful to see that … for one accused to see a lawyer of his choice should not be impeded in any manner whatsoever.” Hotel Rwanda was inspired by Rusesabagina’s heroism protecting Tutsis who sought safety at a hotel in Kigali, where he was manager. An estimated one million Tutsis and moderate Hutus were massacred in the genocide.
Source: https://www.reuters.com/article/us-rwanda-politics/foreign-lawyers-for-hotel-rwanda-hero-say-they-have-been-denied-access-to-him-idUSKBN2702YN