denies his association with FDLR. She told the New York Times: "the rebel group “hates Paul because he protected Tutsis during the genocide.” FLN The armed wing of Paul Rusesabagina's PDR-Ihumure and MRCD political parties, the FLN, was accused of terror attacks in South-West Rwanda in 2018. In an interview broadcast on Voice of America Kinyarwanda in 2018, when asked if FLN rebels were in the Nyungwe forest near where the attacks took place, Rusesabagina responded: "We are angry. We did not enter it to abandon it, we are there to demand our rights as Rwandan natives". After his arrest, he admitted that he had founded the FLN "as an armed wing, not as a terrorist group.... I do not deny that the FLN committed crimes but my role was diplomacy". He has denied any wrongdoing. Rusesabagina has admitted to backing and "diplomatically" supporting the group, as evidenced in a widely disseminated video in which he pledges his "unreserved support" for the FLN and denies any wrongdoing. In the video, Rusesabagina's speech includes: "The time has come for us to use any means possible to bring about change in Rwanda, as all political means have been tried and failed. It is time to attempt our last resort. Hence, I plead my unreserved support that our youth, The National Liberation forces, NLF, launches against the Kagame army in order to free the Rwandan people. As Rwandans it is important to understand that this is the only way to bring about change in the whole country." Kidnapping, arrest and trial Kidnapping Rusesabagina, a permanent resident of the United States who has not lived in Rwanda since an assassination attempt was made on him in 1996, had gone on a trip to Dubai shortly before being arrested. In a jailhouse interview with The New York Times, Rusesabagina stated that in Dubai, he boarded a private plane that he thought was bound for Burundi, where he planned to speak at the invitation of a Christian pastor; instead, the plane took him to Kigali. In a February 2021 interview with Marc Lamont Hill on Al Jazeera, Rwandan Minister of Justice Johnston Busingye admitted that the Rwandan government had paid for the private jet that brought Rusesabagina to Kigali. On 31 August 2020, Rusesabagina was kidnapped and taken to Kigali where he was arrested on charges of terrorism, arson, kidnap and "murder perpetrated against unarmed, innocent