Survivors as well as families and friends of the victims of attacks by Paul Rusesabagina-led MRCD-FLN militia in southern Rwanda Friday gathered at one of the scenes of the deadly attacks to commemorate their loved ones four years on.Rusesabagina victims’ families remember their loved ones
Holding placards that paid tribute to the victims and denounced Rusesabagina’s role in the 2018-19 attacks, mourners held a somber memorial event inside Nyungwe National Park, at a place where the assailants opened fire on public buses before setting them ablaze, killing at least six passengers.
“We remember and denounce terrorism by MRCD-FLN,” read one of the placards. “Rusesabagina is not a hero, he’s a terrorist,” another added.
The mourners also displayed messages calling for compensation, with one placard reading, “Victims of Nyabimata are still grieving.”
In the years following the attacks, the nation saw authorities, separately, arrest Rusesabagina and several other senior MRCD-FLN leaders, including its spokespersons ‘Major’ Callixte Nsabimana and ‘Captain’ Herman Nsengimana, and 19 others.
They were later handed varying sentences, with Rusesabagina slapped a 25-year sentence for forming a terrorist group and committing acts of terrorism, while Nsabimana and Nsengimana were ultimately sentenced to 15 and seven years in prison, respectively.
Together, the attacks in Nyunge and Nyabimata, more than nine people lost their lives in the attacks, with the victims including a 13-year-old student, a bride-to-be, and educationists.
The commemoration took place in Nyamagabe, one of the districts that lost people in the attacks, along with Nyamasheke, Rusizi, Gasabo, Kicukiro and Nyagatare.
