Asked which countries helped in the arrest of Rusesabagina, Dr Thierry Murangira, the acting @RIB_Rw spokesman declined to mention them and explained that such information could jeopardise investigations.

"All others will be arrested. No one can kill Rwandans & go scot free" pic.twitter.com/G89dkEFwD8

— The New Times (Rwanda) (@NewTimesRwanda) August 31, 2020

Murangira said Rusesabagina “is suspected to be the founder, leader, sponsor and member of violent, armed, extremist terror outfits,” and criticized his political party for allegedly participating in killings.

The Washington Post reported Kagame and his officials tried to arrest Rusesabagina in 2010 but were unable to catch him. Rusesabagina has a home in Belgium as well as in Texas. Former President George Bush gave him the Presidential Medal of Freedom in 2005.

Rusesabagina was originally lauded by the Rwandan government and diplomats around the world for his good deeds during the genocide. But when he announced he was forming his own political party in the early 2000s, he immediately fell out of favor with the government and a "smear campaign" began, according to Hotel Rwanda director Terry George.

For years, Kagame and other Rwandan officials have accused Rusesabagina of supporting armed groups trying to attack the country from neighboring nations.

According to Reuters, Rusesabagina released a 2018 YouTube video calling for people to rise up against Kagame.

“The time has come for us to use any means possible to bring about change in Rwanda as all political means have been tried and failed. Rwandan people can no longer stand the cruelty,” Rusesabagina said in the video, according to Reuters.

Other Rwandan leaders have defended Rusesabagina's comments, saying Kagame and the international community have left opposition politicians with no other way to try and remove the dictator.

“It is not because we don’t like democracy or western countries, but we feel we have been abandoned,” exiled former Rwandan prime minister Faustin Twagiramungu told Reuters.

Paul-Kagame

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