NAIROBI, Kenya – Rwanda’s Attorney General has accidentally revealed that he intercepted privileged and confidential legal material in the ongoing terror case against Paul Rusesabagina, the leading dissident whose efforts to save more than 1,200 people during the genocide in the country, portrayed in the Oscar-nominated film. “Hotel Rwanda.”
In a video interview published by Al Jazeera English, Johnston Busingye, who is both Minister of Justice and Attorney General, accused authorities of relying on the documents of Mr. Rusesabagina seized or trampled on the privilege of the lawyer-client, rejected.
But in an hour-and-a-half-long preparatory video that his PR team accidentally sent to the media, Mr. Busingye contradicted himself, saying that the prison authorities had intercepted correspondence between Mr. Rusesabagina and his lawyers and children, some of which included escape plans.
Busingye also discussed with the team how to respond to questions about whether the Rwandan government paid for the flight that brought Rusesabagina to Kigali in August, where he was arrested on charges of murder, armed robbery and a member of ‘ a terrorist organization.
The latest revelations came hours after a court in Rwanda ruled on Friday that it was competent to arrest Mr. Rusesabagina – a Belgian citizen and permanent resident of the United States. It also came when the condemnation experienced widespread condemnation of entities, including rights groups, members of the U.S. Congress and the European Parliament.
The latest revelations, his lawyers say, also cloud the prospects that Mr. Rusesabagina will get a fair trial as his international lawyers have not been allowed to represent him in Kigali and that prison officials are still seizing his case files. Mr. Rusesabagina, a former hotelier, told his lawyers he was scared to death from a stroke in prison, and his family members said they were still worried about his deteriorating health.
Busingye denied during the interview with Al Jazeera that Rusesabagina’s communication with his lawyers had been intercepted. But “if that happened, it would be raised in the courts and the courts would address it fairly,” he told Al Jazeera interviewer Marc Lamont Hill in the UpFront show.
In another recording broadcast by Al Jazeera, Mr. Busingye seen receiving advice on how to respond to questions about who paid for the private plane that Mr. In the video, one can hear the PR consultant warning the minister to be ‘careful’ because the interviewer was ‘looking for something they could bring out in a news release about the interview – looking for nuggets of hard stuff. ‘
When Mr. Hill of Al Jazeera inquired about who paid for the plane, Mr. Busingye said the Rwandan government had done so.
Since Mr. Rusesabagina was presented to the press handcuffed in Kigali on August 31, raising questions about how he ended up there.
He left his home in San Antonio, Texas, and arrived on the evening of August 27 on an Emirates flight from Chicago to Dubai. According to a document from the United Arab Emirates mission in Geneva, he subsequently reported to the Ibis Hotel in Dubai. , and five hours later aboard a private plane he believed was en route to Burundi, where he wanted to speak to churches at the invitation of a local pastor.
The next day, the plane, which is operated by Greek charter firm GainJet, landed in Kigali, where he was arrested, tied up and interrogated.
The Rwandan authorities, among other things in interviews with The New York Times, had earlier confirmed that they had hired the rental service for government activities, but never explicitly confirmed that they had rented the exact flight that Mr. Rusesabagina brought to Kigali.
In December, Mr. Rusesabagina and his family sued GainJet over his role in the episode.
After his arrest, President Paul Kagame – whose government named the 66-year-old Mr. Rusesabagina has been arrested for years – the operation “flawless” and mentions that it was not a kidnapping.
As for the escape plans of Mr. As for Rusesabagina, his daughter Carine Kanimba said she has been receiving WhatsApp and Twitter messages since November from a person claiming to be one of her father’s prison guards. The messages, both audio and written and judged by The Times, describe Mr. Rusesabagina’s routine and suggests ways to help him escape.
“I never answered,” she said. Kanimba said in a telephone interview. “I was afraid I would react and that they would use it against my father.”
In December, the family also shared the material with the FBI, the US State Department and the Belgian Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
On Friday, the Rwandan authorities doubled their position and called the arrest “legal and proper”. In a statement, the Ministry of Justice said that Mr. Busingye became aware of a ‘possible offense’ in December with regard to privileged documents, and that he had instructed that it to Mr. Rusesabagina must be returned.
Kate Gibson, the chief adviser to Mr. Rusesabagina disputes the statement, saying his articles are “regularly and systematically confiscated, including his privileged and confidential material.” Me. Gibson is one of three lawyers awaiting permission to represent the former hotelier in Kigali.
According to Russeabagina, last week, she said, he was denied that he would go to his cell with his documents.
“We now see from Al Jazeera’s preparatory video that the content of privileged and confidential legal documents is moving to the highest level,” she said in an email. ‘The right to confidential communication is at the heart of legal representation. Without it, it is impossible to consider fair. ”