The highly awaited judgment reading of Hotel Rwanda “hero” Paul Rusesabagina, which had been scheduled for Friday, has been postponed by the Rwandan High Court.
Rusesabagina faces life in jail after being charged with nine terrorism-related offenses.
“The decision in the case of Mr Paul Rusesabagina and co-accused will not be given this coming Friday as previously scheduled,” the High Court Chamber for International and Cross-Border Crimes said on Wednesday.
The court said, “Another date will be provided to the litigants this Friday, August 20th, 2021.”
Paul Rusesabagina was set to find out his fate on Friday, six months after a tumultuous trial.
Each of the 27 court hearings, which lasted from February 17 to July 22, was live-streamed on YouTube and received thousands of views.
From his detention to the hearings, the trial sparked a lot of debate in and outside of Rwanda, with fans and adversaries engaging in constant arguments on social media.
In March, Mr Rusesabagina withdrew from the hearings, claiming that he did not expect justice to be served. He charged the judges as being unjust.
Since 2009, Rusesabagina, a Belgian citizen, has lived with his family in both the United States and Belgium.
In August 2020, he was imprisoned after his jet landed in Kigali instead of Burundi, where he thought he was supposed to go.
European and American politicians, as well as human rights organizations like as Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch, have criticized the circumstances of his detention.
His family maintains that his detention was unlawful, and has organized sympathizers to put pressure on Rwanda’s government to release him.
*This article was written by Gerald Gekara for Uzalendo News. Email: uzalendonews24@gmail.com to submit your story.
