(Al Jazeera Media Network) Paul Rusesabagina, who was portrayed as a hero in the Hollywood film Hotel Rwanda and was serving a 25-year sentence in Rwanda on terrorism charges, has had his sentence commuted by presidential order.
The decision was made after a request from Rusesabagina for clemency, government spokeswoman Yolande Makolo told Al Jazeera on Friday.
But “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,” Makolo said. Under Rwandan law, commutation “does not extinguish the underlying conviction,” she said.
Rusesabagina, an outspoken critic of President Paul Kagame, is expected to be released on Saturday.
He will be transferred to Qatar’s capital Doha, and then on to the United States, Majid Al-Ansari, spokesperson of Qatar’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs, told Al Jazeera. Rusesabagina, 68, has permanent residency rights in the U.S.
“The procedure for his transfer … is under way,” Al-Ansari said.
Rusesabagina was sentenced in 2021 to a 25-year prison term for allegedly being part of a group responsible for “terrorist” attacks. He denied the charges and refused to participate in his trial, which he and his supporters called a “sham”.
He had suddenly reappeared in Rwanda in August 2020 after years of living in exile. Rusesabagina had boarded a plane in Dubai, believing it was taking him to Burundi, but the flight brought him to Kigali instead.
Human rights organisations, members of the U.S. Congress and the European Parliament have described Rusesabagina’s rendition to Rwanda as illegal under international law. The U.S. designated him as “wrongly detained,” partly because of what it called the lack of fair trial guarantees in Rwanda.
Rwandan Justice Minister Johnston Busingye later admitted in an interview with Al Jazeera that Rwanda paid for the plane that transported Rusesabagina.
“Rusesabagina’s release would conclude a case that has highlighted Rwanda’s blatant disregard for international norms when it seeks to target people deemed an enemy of the state – even those far beyond their border,” Lewis Mudge, Central Africa director at Human Rights Watch, told Al Jazeera.
Kagame had signalled a possible softening in Rwanda’s approach to Rusesabagina’s case on March 13 when speaking by videolink at the Global Security Forum in Doha.
“There is discussion, there is looking at all possible ways of resolving the issue without compromising the fundamental aspects of that case,” Kagame said at the time. “I think there is going to be a way forward.”
Makolo, the Rwandan government spokeswoman, mentioned on Friday the “constructive” role of the U.S. government and Qatar in resolving the case.
Al-Ansari, the Qatari official, said the issue of Rusesabagina’s release “was discussed during meetings that brought together Qatari and Rwandan officials at the highest levels in the context of bridging views.”
Kagame’s press secretary Stephanie Nyombayire said in a statement that Rwanda’s decision resulted from a wish to “reset” ties with the U.S.
Rusesabagina became a global celebrity after the release of Hotel Rwanda, which depicted him risking his life to shelter hundreds of people as the manager of a luxury hotel in Kigali during the the 1994 genocide when ethnic Hutus killed more than 800,000 people, mostly from the Tutsi minority.
Actor Don Cheadle was nominated for an Oscar for his role as Rusesabagina in the 2004 film.
