Last modified on Wed 17 Feb 2021 11.43 EST
The businessman whose role in saving more than 1,000 lives inspired the film Hotel Rwanda has gone on trial in Kigali.
Paul Rusesabagina faces nine charges including terrorism and murder, and if convicted could spend the rest of his life behind bars.
The family of Rusesabagina, an outspoken critic of the Rwandan president, Paul Kagame, have accused the east African country’s authorities of kidnapping the 66-year-old US resident from Dubai in September and denying him fair legal representation.
They say Rusesabagina, a cancer survivor who has high blood pressure, is in poor health and that his trial is a sham. “We don’t expect a fair trial,” said his daughter Carine Kanimba. “This hearing will be a theatre.”