Paul Rusesabagina  25 year prison sentence sheds more light on the grotesqueness of the Rwandan justice system.

Rwanda not only worked hard on orchestrating the media campaign designed to go hand in hand with the trial but it also went out of its way to gather, handle and dangle evidence on social media in an effort to psychologically prepare the western audience to “accept” the sentence Mr. Rusesabagina was to receive. 

Rwandans for the most part expected Rusesabagina would be handed a life sentence considering the precedents on terrorism-related charges in Rwanda. 

Lt Joel Mutabazi and PDP Imanzi’s Deo Mushayidi

-PDP Imanzi’s is Deo Mushayidi is serving a life sentence as of September 18th, 2010 for allegedly “ crisscrossing the East African great lakes region conspiring to form an armed group to destabilize Mr. Kagame’s regime.  

-And, Lt Joel Mutabazi is also serving a life sentence for his alleged” intent” to assassinate the incumbent following confessions obtained after months of torture.

Journalist Robert Mugabe once said that crimes in Rwanda were tailored to suit the accused but Rusesabagina’s case takes the contempt for justice to a truly depressing level.

While it is perfectly understandable that a man who was proved to have patroned armed incursions on sovereign territory should be severely penalized, it has been bewildering to see how flexible Kagame’s justice can get in the face of Western Liberal think tanks ( The Lantos Foundation and the Clooney Foundation)!

If all men are equal before the law in Rwanda,  how is it that a man like Mushayidi who did not have a single soldier to his name received a life sentence while Mr. Rusesabagina who not only pledged and provided support for an armed group but also decided on the military ranks to be awarded to its soldiers ( according to the prosecution’s evidence provided by the Belgian authorities) was sentenced to 25 years ?!

What of Joel Mutabazi? Would he have received a fairer sentence if he had been a permanent resident of the USA?

So many have faced and continue to face injustice in the courts of Kagame’s justice mainly for being ordinary citizens with no powerful friends.

A nation cannot strive when all its institutions serve at the pleasure of its megalomaniac leader, it is a sign that something has gone terribly wrong! Our country cannot continue to be run on deceptive PR campaigns that paint over the evident failures and greed of its leadership. 

Without an independent justice system built on the solid foundation of the rule of law, no celebrated achievement will survive Mr. Kagame’s regime.

Noble Marara