U.S. authorities report that Paul Rusesabagina has been freed from a Rwandan jail after the country’s government shortened his sentence as a result of diplomatic efforts by the US.
During Rwanda’s 1994 genocide, Rusesabagina, a former hotel manager in the country’s capital Kigali, is credited for saving hundreds of lives. His deeds served as the basis for the Hotel Rwanda movie.
According to US sources, Rusesabagina was escorted to the Kigali home of the Qatari ambassador after being freed from jail just before midnight on Friday. They predict that he would stay there for a few days before departing for Qatar, which facilitated his release.
In a statement, U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken expressed gratitude for the release.
The U.S. government is appreciative to the Rwandan government for making this reunion possible, according to Blinken. “It is a comfort to know that Paul is reuniting with his family,” he added.
Paul’s return to the United States will be made possible by the aid provided by the government of Qatar, he continued.
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In a statement released earlier on Friday, the Rwandan Ministry of Justice stated that Rusesabagina’s sentence had been “commuted by presidential decree after consideration of their mercy appeals.”
When a jet he thought was going to Burundi instead landed in Kigali in August 2020, the 68-year-old Rwandan hotelier who later became a rebel was imprisoned in Rwanda.
He was prosecuted and found guilty on many terrorism-related charges after getting off the plane the next year due to his affiliations with a group that was against President Paul Kagame’s administration.
Rusesabagina was given a 25-year jail term despite her denial of the accusations.
In a statement released on Friday, Blinken stated that Rwanda has “no place for political violence” and refuted Rwanda’s claims that Rusesabagina had carried out such violence.
He declared, “The United States believes in a peaceful and thriving Rwanda.
Rusesabagina had rights to permanent residency in the United States, and the American authorities had labelled him as having been “wrongly imprisoned,” in part because of the alleged absence of fair trial protections.
Top U.S. government sources said that Jake Sullivan, the White House’s national security adviser, spoke on the phone many times with a close Kagame advisor to request Rusesabagina’s release.
Although the United States and Rwanda have long-standing close connections, those ties have become strained as a result of the Rusesabagina case.
A representative for Kagame, Stephanie Nyombayire, tweeted on Friday that the decision to free the man was “the consequence of a mutual desire to reset US-Rwanda relationship.”
Reuters, Agence France-Presse, and The Associated Press all contributed material to this article.
