KIGALI, Rwanda — The previous hotelier lauded as a hero throughout the 1994 Rwanda genocide steered Tuesday that the Rwandan authorities have been behind his mysterious disappearance from Dubai final month, tricking him into returning to his house nation to face costs of terrorism and homicide.
Paul Rusesabagina, whose story impressed the film “Lodge Rwanda,” gave an interview to The New York Occasions on Tuesday — as authorities officers listened in — on the Kigali Metropolitan Police headquarters, the place he has been held for greater than two weeks.
A distinguished authorities critic who had been dwelling in exile in Texas, Mr. Rusesabagina, 66, stated that in his first few days of custody within the arms of Rwandan intelligence operatives, he was stored tied up and didn’t know the place he was. His therapy has improved since then, he stated.
Mr. Rusesabagina stated he was giving the interview voluntarily, however he gave the impression to be talking underneath duress.
Within the interview, which was licensed by the federal government, Mr. Rusesabagina provided an account of how he got here to fade from an airport in Dubai — after which present up in handcuffs days later in Kigali, the Rwandan capital. However his story additionally raised extra questions in regards to the circumstances of his disappearance, which created a sensation, partly due to his film fame.
Mr. Rusesabagina, who has lived for years in Belgium and america, stated he thought the non-public airplane he was boarding in Dubai was certain for Bujumbura, Burundi, the place he deliberate to talk to church buildings on the invitation of an area pastor.
As an alternative, he stated, when he stepped exterior the plane after touchdown within the predawn hours of Aug. 29, he was surrounded by Rwandan troopers and realized he was not in Burundi however in neighboring Rwanda, the place he had final been 16 years in the past. He stated he it was a shock.
Requested how he reacted, Mr. Rusesabagina stated, “Think about how you’ll really feel if you end up the place you aren’t purported to be.”
Mr. Rusesabagina’s account got here barely per week after President Paul Kagame of Rwanda, breaking his silence in regards to the arrest, stated he had been lured into coming again “on the idea of what he believed and what he wished to do.”
Mr. Rusesabagina’s household insists that he would by no means have voluntarily returned to Rwanda. They’ve accused the Kagame government of kidnapping him from Dubai, and demanded to know extra in regards to the circumstances of his switch.
The Rwandan authorities had been making an attempt for not less than a decade to apprehend Mr. Rusesabagina, who was catapulted to fame by the 2004 film, by which he was performed by the actor Don Cheadle.
To a lot of the world, Mr. Rusesabagina is a hero who risked his personal life to shelter greater than 1,200 Rwandans from slaughter. He acquired the Presidential Medal of Freedom from President George W. Bush in 2005.
The Rwandan authorities, although, calls him a harmful subversive who has supported anti-government teams which have launched assaults on Rwanda. A courtroom in Kigali on Monday introduced 13 costs in opposition to him, together with terrorism, complicity in kidnap and homicide and forming a insurgent group. On Thursday, he was denied bail and detained for not less than one other 30 days.
Mr. Rusesabagina’s supporters say that Mr. Kagame, who tolerates nearly no dissent inside his nation, is looking for to sideline a possible political rival.
Mr. Rusesabagina stated within the interview that he’s harmless of the fees in opposition to him.
The interview was carried out within the room the place Mr. Rusesabagina is being held, a stark, clear area with a mattress coated with mosquito netting. Mr. Rusesabagina was wearing khaki pants, a swimsuit jacket and loafers, and was sporting a gold watch.
Listening in have been his two attorneys — whom the federal government says he chosen from a listing they gave him — and officers with the Rwanda Investigation Bureau and the police, wearing civilian garments. Mr. Rusesabagina’s household stated in interviews that they employed a distinct set of attorneys in Rwanda who haven’t been allowed to see him.
However he dismissed his household’s issues about his illustration, saying, “I selected my attorneys and I’m proud of them. However my household isn’t knowledgeable.”
Mr. Rusesabagina stated that he had hypertension and that the Rwandan authorities had despatched docs to see him.
“Lots of people come,” he stated. “They discuss to me. They even clear my room generally. They provide me meals. They’re very sort. Every thing has been clean. To this point, so good.”
For no matter mild the interview shed on his scenario, Mr. Rusesabagina’s account was at instances muddled.
He couldn’t say, for instance, what occurred to him throughout the three days between his flight from Dubai and his reappearance in Kigali.
“Effectively, I used to be taken someplace,” he stated. “I have no idea the place. I used to be tied — the leg, the arms, face. I couldn’t see something. I don’t know the place I used to be.”
Requested whether or not he had been interrogated, Mr. Rusesabagina stated, “Not that a lot.”
Pressed to clarify additional, he stated: “No, probably not. No one interrogated me. Yeah.”
