CHICAGO – Jan. 21, 2021 – The legal team for Paul Rusesabagina, an internationally renowned humanitarian who saved the lives of 1,268 people during the 1994 Rwandan genocide, filed a motion on January 21 in a Rwandan court arguing that the egregious violations of his fundamental rights require his immediate release, and a permanent stay of proceedings against him.
The motion which is below, was filed this morning with the Registry of The High Court Chamber for International Crimes (HCCIC), and details the circumstances of Rusesabagina’s kidnapping, illegal arrest and interrogation for three days while bound and blindfolded in the absence of a lawyer, as well as the continued interference with his ability to meet with and be represented by attorneys of his choice.
If the Chamber does not stay the proceedings, or even order Rusesabagina’s provisional release, the motion then seeks basic remedies such as access to a paper and pen, an order that the Prison Director stop confiscating all legal documents, access to his designated international lawyers, privileged phone calls with his lawyers, adequate time to prepare for trial and, most importantly, that he be given his prescribed medication for a heart disorder which was provided to the Rwandan authorities by the Belgian Embassy in Kigali, and is still being withheld.
View: Rusesabagina Motion re: Fundamental Rights (https://hotelrwandarusesabaginafoundation.files.wordpress…)
Background: Paul Rusesabagina is an internationally renowned humanitarian who saved the lives of 1,268 people during the 1994 Rwandan genocide and whose story was told in the movie Hotel Rwanda and his book An Ordinary Man. He has regularly criticized human rights violations and a lack of democracy in Rwanda, while working for an internationally sanctioned truth and reconciliation process and sustainable peace in the Great Lakes Region of Africa. He was kidnapped by the government of Rwanda on August 27 and taken to Kigali, where he is currently held in prison. Rwandan President Kagame is a dictator who does not tolerate dissent, who slanders and intimidates critics of his government, including calling them “terrorists,” and who has a long record of imprisoning and even killing those he considers to be critics or political opponents.
#FreeRusesabagina
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