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Paul Rusesabagina, real-life hero of 'Hotel Rwanda,' facing terror charges

He saved the lives of more than 1,200 people during the country's 1994 genocide

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Paul Rusesabagina, portrayed in the film “Hotel Rwanda” as a hero who saved the lives of more than 1,200 people from the country's 1994 genocide, has been arrested by the Rwandan government on terror charges, police announced Monday.

A well-known critic of President Paul Kagame, Rusesabagina had been living outside Rwanda since 1996 and police did not say where he was apprehended. He had been living in Belgium and then in Texas.

In handcuffs and a facemask, Rusesabagina, 66, was shown to the press in Rwanda's capital, Kigali, on Monday by police. He has not yet been formally charged in court.

Paul Rusesabagina, who was portrayed in the film "Hotel Rwanda" as a hero who saved the lives of more than 1,200 people from the country's 1994 genocide, and is a well-known critic of President Paul Kagame, has been arrested by the Rwandan government on terror charges, police announced on Monday, Aug. 31, 2020. (AP Photo)

Paul Rusesabagina, who was portrayed in the film "Hotel Rwanda" as a hero who saved the lives of more than 1,200 people from the country's 1994 genocide, and is a well-known critic of President Paul Kagame, has been arrested by the Rwandan government on terror charges, police announced on Monday, Aug. 31, 2020. (AP Photo)

“Through international cooperation, the Rwanda Bureau of Investigation wants to inform the general public that Paul Rusesabagina has been arrested,” police said in a statement Monday.

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“Rusesabagina is suspected to be the founder, leader, sponsor and member of violent, armed, extremist terror outfits including the Rwanda Movement for Democratic Change (MRCD) operating out of various places in the region and abroad,” police said.

There was an international arrest warrant for Rusesabagina to answer charges of serious crimes including terrorism, arson, kidnap and murder, perpetrated against unarmed, innocent Rwandan civilians on Rwandan territory, police said. Police told the media in Kigali that investigations against Rusesabagina will continue and more information will be released about his alleged activities.

In this Thursday, Dec. 2, 2004 ,file photo, Paul Rusesabagina, the inspiration for the film "Hotel Rwanda," poses with actress Angelina Jolie at the premiere of the film at the Academy of Motion Picture Arts & Sciences in Beverly Hills, Calif. (AP Photo/Chris Pizzello, File)

In this Thursday, Dec. 2, 2004 ,file photo, Paul Rusesabagina, the inspiration for the film "Hotel Rwanda," poses with actress Angelina Jolie at the premiere of the film at the Academy of Motion Picture Arts & Sciences in Beverly Hills, Calif. (AP Photo/Chris Pizzello, File)

Rusesabagina has previously denied the government's charges that he financially supports Rwandan rebels.

Rusesabagina has been a prominent critic of Kagame’s government, calling it a dictatorship and urging Western countries to press the government to respect human rights.

Government supporters reject Rusesabagina’s criticism, saying Kagame's leadership supports democracy and economic growth.

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Rusesabagina has won numerous international honors including the United States Presidential Medal of Freedom, which President George W. Bush awarded him in 2005.

In this Thursday, Feb. 17, 2005, file photo provided by the White House, President Bush, left, and first lady Laura Bush, second right, meet with Paul Rusesabagina, center-right, and his wife, Tatiana, right, in the Oval Office. (Eric Draper/The White House via AP )

In this Thursday, Feb. 17, 2005, file photo provided by the White House, President Bush, left, and first lady Laura Bush, second right, meet with Paul Rusesabagina, center-right, and his wife, Tatiana, right, in the Oval Office. (Eric Draper/The White House via AP )

Rwandan President Paul Kagame disputes Rusesabagina’s story about saving survivors at a hotel in Kigali during the genocide, in which more than 800,000 Tutsi and Hutus who tried to protect them were killed by Hutus.

“Rusesabagina has been among the most prominent critics of the Rwandan government and an opponent to President Kagame. His arrest will definitely weaken those who oppose Kagame's leadership,” Gonza Muganwa, a Rwandan political analyst, told The Associated Press.

The 2004 film “Hotel Rwanda” showed Rusesabagina, a Hutu married to a Tutsi, as using his influence as a manager of the Hotel des Mille Collines, to allow more than 1,200 Tutsis to shelter in the hotel's rooms. In the film, Rusesabagina was played by actor Don Cheadle.

Naphatal Ahishakiye, executive secretary of Ibuka, a Rwanda survivors’ organization, said that Rusesabagina's arrest is good news for survivors of the genocide. Ahishakiye said Rusesabagina had charged people money to be able to survive in the hotel.