Rwandan President Paul Kagame has said nobody is going “to bully us" when it comes to internal Rwandan affairs, in response to the US request to release government critic Paul Rusesabagina.
During a discussion on African issues hosted by news website Semafor on the sidelines of the US-Africa Summit in Washington, Mr Kagame was asked if the US’s Antony Blinken advocacy on Mr Rusesabagina was "helping or hurting" his case.
Mr Kagame said that “somebody in America” wanted the case to be “nullified” because “this person is a celebrity”.
Last year, Mr Rusesabagina and 20 other people were found guilty on terrorism charges.
“If we let him free, how about these other 20 who pointed him as even being their leader?” President Kagame asked.
“We have made it clear, there isn’t anybody going to come from anywhere to bully us into something to do with our lives - you can maybe make an invasion and overrun the country,” he added sarcastically.
Mr Rusesabagina, 68, was depicted as a hero in a Hollywood movie on the Rwandan genocide.
He was sentenced to 25 years in jail after being tricked into boarding a private jet from Dubai to Rwanda's capital Kigali, thinking he was heading to Bujumbura in Burundi.
Mr Rusesabagina's family has called the trial a sham, saying he was taken to Rwanda, from exile, by force.
The US has stated that Mr Rusesabagina is being “wrongfully detained” in Rwanda.
Source: BBC
