mar
30
2023

Rusesabagina arrives in US

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Paul Rusesabagina, who was recently released from Mageragere prison in Kigali, has arrived in the United States (US).

According to media reports, Rusesabagina arrived in the US on Wednesday.

As per established protocol, Rusesabagina departed from Rwanda to Qatar early this week before heading to the United States.

Rusesabagina’s daughter, Carine Kanimba, has also confirmed her father’s return to the US in a post on Twitter.

Kanimba expressed her gratitude to everyone who worked to bring her father home, and announced that their family is finally reunited.

Rusesabagina is a US legal resident with dual citizenship in Rwanda and Belgium.

Rusesabagina was released from prison on Friday last week after his sentence was commuted by President Paul Kagame. The commutation came after he asked Kagame for a pardon in an October 2022 letter.

“If I am granted a pardon and released, I understand fully that I will spend the remainder of my days in the United States in quiet reflection,” he wrote in part. “I can assure you through this letter that I hold no personal or political ambitions otherwise. I will leave questions regarding Rwandan politics behind me.”

The US Presidency, White House recently conveyed their appreciation through a brief statement that acknowledged Rusesabagina’s release and thanked the Rwandan and Qatari governments for facilitating it.

Commenting on the development after the presidential clemency granted to Rusesabagina, Stephanie Nyombayire, the Press Secretary for the Office of the Presidency, disclosed that Rusesabagina’s release is the outcome of a joint effort to reset the relationship between the United States and Rwanda.

Rusesabagina, the former President of the MRCD-FLRN terror group, was sentenced to 25 years in 2021 for terrorism charges.

Along with Nsabimana Callixte, alias "Sankara," who served as the FLN’s spokesperson, and 18 others linked to the same case, he was released on presidential clemency last Friday. Rusesabagina had been arrested in 2020.

More 358 individuals convicted of various offences were also granted collective commutation on the same day.
https://en.igihe.com/news/article/rusesabagina-arrives-in-us

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