CNN
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Paul Rusesabagina, who impressed the Hollywood movie “Hotel Rwanda” and had been sentenced to prison in Rwanda, has had his sentence commuted by the nation’s President Paul Kagame after his request for clemency, officers in Rwanda stated Friday.
Rusesabagina was discovered responsible on terrorism-related fees in September 2021 and was sentenced to 25 years in prison.
“Commutation of sentence does not extinguish the underlying conviction,” stated authorities spokeswoman Yolande Makolo on Friday.
“Rwanda notes the constructive role of the US government in creating conditions for dialogue on this issue, as well as the facilitation provided by the State of Qatar,” she added.
Rusesabagina, who’s a twin Rwandan and Belgian citizen and resident of the United States, will be released on Saturday together with 19 different folks that had been convicted alongside him, Makolo advised CNN.
Rusesabagina will be transferred to Qatar following his launch, Qatar’s Foreign Ministry spokesperson Majid Al-Ansari stated in a press release Friday.
“He will then head to the United States of America,” Al-Ansari added.
Rusesabagina was arrested by Rwandan authorities whereas he was touring internationally in 2020 in what his household has claimed was a kidnapping.
“We are pleased to hear the news about Paul’s release. The family is hopeful to reunite with him soon,” a spokesperson for Rusesabagina’s household advised CNN.
At his trial in 2021, Rusesabagina was discovered responsible of being a part of a terror group known as MRCD-FLN. Two 2018 assaults through which 9 folks died had been a specific focus, in accordance to a authorities assertion.
However the Clooney Foundation for Justice described the decision as a “show trial,” and claimed that Rusesabagina’s conviction lacked ample ensures of equity “required by international and African standards.”
Rusesabagina, an outspoken critic of President Kagame, is greatest identified for saving tons of of Rwandans through the nation’s genocide by sheltering them within the resort he managed.
His story was made into the Hollywood movie “Hotel Rwanda,” starring Don Cheadle and Sophie Okonedo.