Don Cheadle was a hit at the Academy Award-nominated Hotel Rwanda, with the actor playing the Belgian-Rwandanese Paul Rossabagina. Now it looks like Rusesabagina may end up in prison for the rest of his life.
Rospagina was convicted of terrorism in the Rwandan capital, Kigali. He is the head of the Rwandan opposition party MRCD and is said to have financed the attacks of its military branch FLN, a rebel group that carried out deadly attacks. He denies everything himself.
Famous
In the Hotel Rwanda, we see how Rosabagina did everything in his power to accommodate and hide over 1,000 refugees (both Hutu and Tutsi) during the 1994 Rwandan genocide, and hid in the hotel he ran.
Thanks to the film, Rusesabagina became world famous. He then made good use of his position to criticize the authoritarian regime of Rwandan President Paul Kagame from exile in Belgium and the United States.
Despite his conviction yesterday, necessary people believe that the conviction of Rossapgina is wrong and are trying to silence him. His lawyers also say he did not receive a fair trial.
