The trial involving 21 terror suspects linked to MRCD and its militia group FLN took a new twist on Wednesday, March 24, as a prosecution witness detailed how Paul Rusesabagina used money raised from humanitarian drives to fund terror activities.

Rusesabagina was not in court, following his announcement last time that he was boycotting the trial that is taking place at the High Court Chamber for International and Cross Border Crimes.

American national Michelle Martin, an academic who once worked as a volunteer at Rusesabagina’s foundation, said that the former hoodwinked the American benefactors to his foundation that he was fundraising for a good cause, but ended up using the money in subversive activities aimed at removing the Rwandan government.

The money was raised through Hotel Rwanda Rusesabagina Foundation, which was disguised as a humanitarian organisation for which the unsuspecting benefactors contributed.

"Within a few months of working with the foundation, both my student intern and I had come to believe, based on our observation that the foundation did not operate as a humanitarian organization,” said Martin, who is an associate professor at the California State University.

She had brought the intern to work with her as volunteers at Rusesabagina’s foundation in the United States.

She said that besides mobilizing funding for terror outfit – as she later found out from correspondences between Rusesabagina and his colleagues - the outfit was operating as a political organization with intent to overthrow the Rwandan government.

"I knew that the foundation was barred from undertaking political activities. The foundation was registered with the Internal Revenue Service as a non-profit, non-political charity providing ‘human services’,” she said.

Martin said that all the time they worked with the foundation, they never witnessed any activity geared at supporting widows and orphans, who were the purported beneficiaries of Rusesabagina’s foundation.

She gave an account of Rusesabagina’s political activities with PDR-Ihumure, a political outfit and how its activities were fused in those of the foundation.

Explaining how she met Rusesabagina, Martin said she was introduced to him by one Providence Rubingisa, a friend of Rusesabagina and genocide denier, also based in the US.

She said she found communication linking the two men and their colleagues to subversive activities linked to militia groups operating in the DR Congo like the FDLR.

The scholar also narrated to court about the different instances they colluded to offer cover to genocide fugitives fleeing justice whom they passed off as genocide survivors.

She said that after discovering that she was working with people involved in illegal activities, she handed all evidence (screenshots, text messages, emails, and others) to the US Law Enforcement and collaborated during their investigations between February to September 2012.

Motivation behind testimony

Concluding her testimony, Michelle said that she intentionally decided to expose what she knows about Rusesabagina and his deceptive humanitarian activism.

"When I discovered that they were members of the former regime, I was outraged by what they were doing and how they were taking advantage of Americans,” she said.

"Considering my profession,” she said, "I know very well the impact of conflict. As a mother, I thought that I would not live with this information or be a bystander.”

She also mentioned she did so despite the threats she faced on social media.

"As I prepared this testimony, I spent a considerable amount of time reflecting on my original motives, including reflecting on what prompted me to do what I did and to keep going, even when at times I felt like I was completely in over my head,” she explained.

All the 21 individuals involved in the case are accused of crimes related to terrorism, following terror attacks that took place in south-western Rwanda between 2018 and 2019 and claimed nine lives.

Rusesabagina is the founding president of MRCD that later formed the armed militia group, FLN.

The trial will resume on Thursday, March 25

Twenty terror suspects linked to MRCD and its military wing FLN arrive at the High Court Special Chamber for International and Cross-border Crimes in Kigali on March 24, 2021

A seat reserved to Rusesabagina who did not appear in the court.The judges resolved that the trial will go on with Paul Rusesabagina, a key suspect, in absentia. (Sam Ngendahimana)