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Rwanda said on Friday it has commuted the 25-year jail sentence against ailing “Hotel Rwanda” hero Paul Rusesabagina, a fiercely outspoken critic of President Paul Kagame who has been held behind bars for more than 900 days.
The announcement comes less than two weeks after Kagame said Kigali was looking into resolving Rusesabagina’s case, which has been a cause of concern for the West and global rights groups.
“Paul Rusesabagina and (co-defendant) Callixte Nsabimana have had their prison sentences commuted by presidential order, after consideration of their requests for clemency,” government spokeswoman Yolande Makolo told AFP, without disclosing when they would be released.
The sentences of another 18 people convicted of terrorism offences alongside Rusesabagina in September 2021 have also been commuted, she said, highlighting the role of the United States and Qatar in the case.
But Makolo added: “No one should be under any illusion about what this means, as there is consensus that serious crimes were committed, for which they were convicted.”
Rusesabagina, now 68, was jailed after a trial his supporters denounced as a sham that was plagued with irregularities. He has now been detained for 939 days, according to the Free Rusesabagina website.
His family has long warned about Rusesabagina’s deteriorating health and has voiced fears he could die in prison.
A court in May 2022 upheld the sentences against Rusesabagina and most of his 20 co-defendants who were jailed for between three and 20 years for backing an armed group.
Rusesabagina was the manager of a Kigali hotel and is credited with helping to save about 1,200 lives during the 1994 genocide in which about 800,000 people were slaughtered, mainly Tutsis but also moderate Hutus.
Rusesabagina, whose story inspired the Oscar-nominated 2004 movie “Hotel…
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