Births on June 15

Paul Rusesabagina, Rwandan humanitarian

Paul Rusesabagina (Kinyarwanda: [ɾusesɑβaɟinɑ]; born 15 June 1954) is a Rwandan politician. He worked as the manager of the Hôtel des Mille Collines in Kigali, during a period in which it housed 1,268 Hutu and Tutsi refugees from the Interahamwe militia during the Rwandan genocide. None of these refugees were hurt or killed during the attacks.An account of Rusesabagina's actions during the genocide was later dramatised in the film Hotel Rwanda directed by Terry George, in which he was portrayed by American actor Don Cheadle. The film has been the subject both of critical acclaim and deep controversy, particularly in Rwanda.On the back of newly-found international fame, Rusesabagina embarked on a successful career as a public speaker, mostly touring universities in the United States. He campaigns for the Hotel Rwanda Rusesabagina Foundation, which he founded in 2006. He holds Belgian citizenship, and a U.S. green card, and has homes in Brussels, Belgium and San Antonio, Texas.Since leaving Rwanda in 1996, he has become a prominent critic of Paul Kagame and the RPF government. He founded the PDR-Ihumure political party in 2006, and is currently President of the MRCD, a foreign-based opposition group to the Rwandan government.On 31 August 2020, believing he was taking a flight to Burundi from Dubai, he arrived in Kigali, where he was arrested on nine charges of terrorism that related to his association with the FLN (National Liberation Front), the armed wing of PDR-Ihumure, who claimed responsibility for terrorist attacks in 2018 which killed at least nine people.Rusesabagina has publicly expressed his support for FLN's "liberation struggle" in a widely disseminated video online. On 20 September 2021, he was convicted on terrorism charges and sentenced to 25 years in prison.