Following the controversial conviction of the world famous ‘Hotel Rwanda’ hero, Paul Rusesabagina by a Rwandan court last month, his family has filed a $400 million lawsuit in the US over his alleged abduction and torture by the government in Kigali.
Rusesabagina, whose heroism during the 1994 Rwandan genocide was depicted in the Hollywood film ‘Hotel Rwanda,’ is respected the world over as a hero who saved the lives of thousands by providing shelter for them when he was the manager of a luxury hotel in Kigali during the genocide when ethnic Hutus killed more than 800,000 people, mostly from the Tutsi minority.
The lawsuit filed by Rusesabagina’s family names the Government of Rwanda, President Paul Kagame, and other senior officials including the former Justice Minister and Intelligence Chief as part of those who abducted and tortured him.
A lawyer to the Rusesabagina family in a statement on Saturday, said:
“The complaint alleges that the Government of Rwanda, the President 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 illegally detained.”
According to the family, the 67-year-old Rusesabagina who is a holder of a US green card, as well as Belgian citizenship, was tricked into travelling from the US to Burundi in 2020 by the promise of work.
“Instead, he was drugged and taken to Rwanda where President Paul Kagame’s security agents forcibly abducted him, tortured him, and forced him into illegal imprisonment,” according to the statement.
The family also aver that the conviction of the ailing hero is effectively a death sentence for him.
He is now currently serving 25 years in prison on terrorism charges following a trial last year, which his supporters say was riddled with irregularities.
He was first brought to Rwanda in 2020 and convicted in September 2021 for alleged involvement in a rebel group blamed for deadly attacks in Rwanda in 2018 and 2019.
Rusesabagina’s family and lawyers say they will hold a news conference in Washington, DC on Wednesday, May 4, to announce further details of the suit, which is seeking at least $400m (380 million euros) in compensation, as well as punitive damages.