Minister Biruta holds talks with his counterpart of Belgium

The discussions took place in Belgium on Thursday 17th February 2022.

Minister Biruta is in Belgium where he attended European Union – African Union Summit.

Wilmès last visited Rwanda in October 2021 as she attended the African Union – European Union Foreign Affairs Ministerial Meeting in Kigali.

Before her visit , Rwanda had called off a bilateral meeting with Belgium at ministerial level, on the sidelines of the United Nations General Assembly in New York, following a statement of the Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs of Belgium , Sophie Wilmes criticizing the ruling on Paul Rusesabagina.

Rusesabagina was arrested in August 2020. He underwent trial along with 20 co-accused terror suspects including Callixte Nsabimana alias Sankara, the former spokesperson for the terror group.

The suspects faced charges including the formation of an irregular armed group, membership of a terrorist group, financing terrorism, murder as an act of terrorism, arson as an act of terrorism, attempted murder as an act of terrorism, and assault and battery as an act of terrorism.

The crimes were committed since 2018 when the aforementioned terror group plotted attacks to Rwanda which claimed lives of nine innocent residents in the Southern Province.

They left many others gravely injured, and caused significant material and economic damage in South-West Rwanda.

Rusesabagina was handed 25-year sentence on Monday 20th September 2021 by the High Court Chamber for International Crimes.

He was found guilty of charges against him except illegal formation of an armed group.

Following the verdict, countries including the United States of America (USA) and Belgium criticized Rwanda’s judicial system claiming that Rusesabagina’s trial was not fair.

The Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs of Belgium , Sophie Wilmes released a statement explaining that Belgium had raised concerns on his trial several times.

“Despite repeated proceedings from Belgium on this issue … Mr Rusesabagina did not benefit from a fair and impartial trial, especially with regard to the right to defense. The presumption of innocence was also not respected. These factors effectively question trials and judgments,” Wilmes said in a statement.

Wilmes further stated that she would meet with Rwandan counterparts that week as a bystander to the UN General Assembly in New York adding that ‘Belgium is in close contact with Mr. Rusesabagina’.

In response, the Government of Rwanda said that the statement of Sophie Wilmès reflects ‘the contempt shown by the Government of the Kingdom of Belgium towards the Rwandan judicial system since the start of the trial, despite the significant contribution of relevant Belgian institutions to the investigation of this case’.

The statement further read that the victims of the terrorist acts of FLN ‘have just as much right to justice as Mr. Rusesabagina and his co-defendants’.

For this reason, the Government of Rwanda announced that scheduled bilateral talks at ministerial level would not take place.

However, Rwanda revealed that it remains ready to welcome the Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Kingdom of Belgium, ‘at a convenient time to the dialogue between the two countries’.