KIGALI, Rwanda - April 2, 2021 - Days 9 and 10 of the Paul Rusesabagina trial in Kigali, Rwanda began with prosecutors reading the charges against Rusesabagina and desperately trying to establish some kind of connection between National Liberation Front (FLN) and Movement for Change and Democracy in Rwanda (MRCD). No evidence was provided to prove any link, and even observers familiar with Rwandan law and politics found the prosecution presentation confusing.
The Movement for Change and Democracy in Rwanda (MRCD) is an umbrella political organization made up of several Rwandan political parties in the Diaspora. The National Liberation Front (FLN) was one of those parties for a short time from July, 2018 to July, 2020. The MRCD is most similar to a European political coalition, where parties join together for common political goals, but each party maintains their own independent leadership, policies and actions.
Paul Ruseabagina was part of MRCD as a result of his leadership of one of the component parties, PDR-Imhure which is a political party focused on democratic change that exists in the Rwandan Diaspora.
MRCD leaders, including Paul Rusesabagina, were never in a position to direct the FLN or give it orders in any way. Paul had no contemporaneous knowledge of FLN actions, let alone any control over the group or its members. Interviews with MRCD leaders reveal that they typically learned of FLN actions only after they happened, and often through press reports. In addition, while the FLN is accused of several attacks in the case, no evidence has been presented to establish that these attacks indeed occurred, other than government statements and reports in the captive Rwandan press.
The primary "evidence" linking Paul to the FLN was brought up several times over these two days in the form of statements given by Rusesabagina to the prosecutors in September, 2020. These were coerced statements given by Paul after three days of torture and with no lawyer present. In any credible legal system, statements given under torture and in violation of an accused's right to legal representation would be excluded as unreliable. Paul has since publicly declared in court that these statements were given under duress and that that they are untrue.
On Day 10, prosecutors showed clips of a video alleged to be a speech made by Paul, claiming that this speech provides a link between Paul and the FLN. As with other "evidence," this video is problematic for a variety of reasons. It appears to be based on a clip that is available on YouTube, but the original was doctored and an "FLN" logo added in the top right of the video in a clumsy attempt to establish a link.
Watching from outside of the court, one of Rusesabagina's lawyers noted that "the Prosecution produced the video with no efforts to authenticate it through calling as a witness the person in the video, or its producer. The Prosecution produced no metadata and no evidence of chain of custody of the video. In reality, today's "evidence" consisted of nothing more than the Prosecution pulling a video from YouTube and presenting it as reliable evidence. This video would not have been admitted in any legitimate criminal proceedings before an independent bench of Judges."
The most important facts in the case were still ignored by the court. Paul Rusesabagina was kidnapped and brought to Rwanda illegally. He was tortured for the first three days of his captivity, and is currently detained arbitrarily, having never been provided with an arrest warrant as required under Rwandan Law. He still does not have access to his international lawyers, and privileged documents provided to him by his lawyers are still confiscated and inspected by the prison. He has now been held in solitary confinement for nearly 7 months, in violation of all international standards of detention. His rights have been violated at every phase of this trial to the point that the trial would be stopped in any other justice system. Paul will not receive a fair trial in Rwanda, and the international community should demand his immediate release on compassionate grounds.
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Kitty Kurth
