Roussabagina is serving a 25-year prison sentence on terrorism charges following a trial that his supporters say was fraudulent and full of irregularities. The complaint alleges that the Rwandan government and senior Rwandan officials conspired to facilitate and carry out a complex conspiracy to lure Paul Rusesabagina from his Texas home to Rwanda, where he would be tortured and illegally detained for the remainder. of his life. “, His family and lawyers said in a statement on Saturday. A copy of the lawsuit seen by AFP shows it was filed in a Washington court on February 22. He surrendered to the Rwandan government on March 8. Russebagina’s family and lawyers will hold a press conference in Washington on Wednesday to announce further details of the lawsuit, which seeks at least $ 400 million in damages as well as punitive damages. The lawsuit names the Rwandan government, its president, Paul Kagame, and others, including the former justice minister and intelligence chief. Rusesabagina, then hotel manager in Kigali, is believed to have saved hundreds of lives during the 1994 genocide, and his actions inspired the Hollywood film Hotel Rwanda. He used his reputation to denounce Kagame as dictator and has been behind bars since his arrest in August 2020, when a plane he believed was destined for Burundi landed in Kigali instead. The family statement said Rusesabagina, who holds a U.S. green card and Belgian citizenship, was tricked into traveling from his home in the United States by promising to work in Burundi. “Instead, he was drugged and taken to Rwanda, where President Paul Kagame’s security agents abducted him, tortured him and forced him into illegal detention.” The government did not immediately respond to a request for comment. Rusesabagina was convicted in September of joining a rebel group accused of deadly gun attacks, grenades and arson in Rwanda in 2018 and 2019. His sentence of 25 years in prison was upheld by the Rwandan Court of Appeals earlier this month, a decision that his family says is essentially a death sentence for the ailing 67-year-old.
