Hotel Rwanda Protagonist Faces Unfair Trial

FEATURING PAUL RUSESABAGINA – The Rwandan hotelier and humanitarian who protected over a thousand of his countrymen during the height of the 1994 Rwandan genocide is now facing trial under Paul Kagame’s government. Paul Rusesabagina is the author of An Ordinary Man: An Autobiography, and founder of the Hotel Rwanda Rusesabagina Foundation. He has been widely lauded for his critical life-saving work and been recognized internationally including receiving the United States Presidential Medal of Freedom. He has used his celebrity to continue doing humanitarian work but also speaking out against abuses by President Kagame.

Last year Rusesabagina was arrested outside Rwanda and brought back to the country for a trial on trumped up charges that include murder, armed robbery and terrorism. Mr. Rusesabagina is currently a citizen of Belgium and his lawyers say he has been denied due process and is also in ill-health. In April 2014 I spoke with the man whose story is told in the film Hotel Rwanda. It was the 20th anniversary of the Rwandan genocide. Today we re-air that interview in light of his current plight.