The hero of Hotel Rwanda is facing prosecution - who is he and what do we know?
Video report by ITV News Correspondent Juliet Bremner
The man who inspired the film Hotel Rwanda is on trial in his own country facing charges of terrorism and supporting armed opposition groups.
Paul Rusesabagina's actions during the Rwandan genocide in 1994 are believed to have saved more than 1,200 lives.
He was arrested last year in Rwanda after mysteriously disappearing during a visit to Dubai.
Who is Paul Rusesabagina and why is he famous?
Mr Rusesabagina is the main character in the 2004 film Hotel Rwanda which won critical acclaim and portrays his actions during the Rwandan genocide.
In just 100 days in 1994, about 800,000 people were slaughtered in the central African country by ethnic Hutu extremists.
They were targeting members of the minority Tutsi community, as well as their political opponents, irrespective of their ethnic origin.
Mr Rusesabagina is a Hutu married to a Tutsi, and used his influence as a manager of the Hotel des Mille Collines in Kigakli to allow more than 1,200 Tutsis to shelter in the hotel’s rooms.
In the film, Mr Rusesabagina was played by actor Don Cheadle.
The Rwandan government disputes Mr Rusesabagina’s story about saving survivors.Despite the negative reputation he has from some parts of Rwanda his actions during the pandemic have been praised as heroic.
Mr Rusesabagina has won numerous international honors including the United States Presidential Medal of Freedom, which President George W Bush awarded him in 2005, and the Lantos Human Rights Prize in 2011.
What has he been accused of?
The Rwandan government has accused Mr Rusesabagina of supporting the armed wing of the political opposition he backs, which has claimed responsibility for deadly attacks.
Mr Rusesabagina has denied funding militias in the past but has also called for armed groups to rebel against the president, claiming democratic change was impossible.Mr Rusesabagina has been a long-time critic President Paul Kagame and has not lived in the country since 1996.
President Kagame has been accused of human rights abuses and not tolerating any opposition to his regime.
He has been credited with stabilising the country after the genocide and developing the nation.
Carine Kanimba, Mr Rusesabagina’s daughter said at the time of his arrest: "What they’re accusing him of is all made up.
"There is no evidence to what they’re claiming, we know this is a wrongful arrest.”
Mr Rusesabagina faces nine charges including the formation of an irregular armed group; membership in a terrorist group; financing terrorism; and murder, abduction and armed robbery as an act of terrorism. If convicted, he could face more than 20 years in prison.
What has happened since his arrest?
The world has heard little from Mr Rusesabagina since he disappeared during a visit to Dubai in August and appeared days later in Rwanda in handcuffs.
Rwanda’s president shortly after Mr Rusesabagina’s arrest hinted during a national address that he may have been tricked into boarding a private plane to Rwanda, a country where his family said he would never voluntarily visit again.
The circumstances around Mr Rusesabagina’s arrest, his limited access to an independent legal team and his reported worsening health have drawn international concern.
The European Parliament has adopted a resolution calling for Rwanda to give Mr Rusesabagina a fair trial and condemning what it called his enforced disappearance, illegal rendition to Rwanda and incommunicado detention.
Mr Rusesabagina is a cancer survivor and struggles with high blood pressure.
His family says the 66-year-old has no chance at a fair trial because of his outspoken criticism of the president.
His trial began this week but as Mr Rusesabagina is a Belgian citizen the judge has said he does not know if he has the power to try a foreign citizen
Mr Rusesabagina told the court: "Let me say for the fifth time that I am Belgian and not Rwandan.
"I was kidnapped and brought to Rwanda and I am being held here hostage. Kidnap itself is a crime."His lawyer, Gatera Gashabana, told the court that the Rwandan prosecution “has not presented warrants of arrest of Rusesabagina. He was neither extradited nor arrested in Kigali as the prosecution said. He was kidnapped.“
The lead prosecutor has denied Mr Rusesabagina's citizenship is an issue, saying he is a dual-national.
Rwanda’s penal code says a non-national or national who commits a crime in Rwanda is prosecuted by Rwandan courts
What do others think about Mr Rsuesabagina?
Since the genocide Mr Rusesabagina has faced sustained criticism from within his country.
Naphatal Ahishakiye, executive secretary of Ibuka, a Rwanda survivors’ organisation, said Mr Rusesabagina’s arrest is good news for survivors of the genocide.
Mr Ahishakiye said Rusesabagina had charged people money to be able to survive in the hotel.