Photo AP / Justin Lynch

Photo via Anadolu Agency

KIGALI, Rwanda - Rwanda deported a Belgian lawyer on Saturday who visited the country apparently to give legal services to Paul Rusesabagina, portrayed as a hero in the Oscar-nominated film Hotel Rwanda and who is currently facing terrorism-related charges.

Vincent Lurquin was deported and declared persona non grata for violating immigration laws, the Director-General of the Rwanda Directorate General of Immigration and Emigration, Regis Gatarayiha, told reporters in the capital, Kigali.

Lurquin’s deportation came one day after he appeared before Rwanda's High Court Chamber for International and Cross-border Crimes that is trying Rusesabagina.

The Rwanda Bar Association raised a complaint because Lurquin was not accredited to practice in Rwanda.

Lurquin entered the country Aug. 16 on a visitation visa with 30-day validity, according to Gatarayiha.

“He was granted a V1 type of visa, which allows the bearer to visit the country but not conduct any remunerated work. We were surprised to see that he appeared in court, in one of the proceedings dressed in a gown that shows that he was practicing as an advocate without accreditation,” said Gatarayiha.

The court earlier set Aug. 20 to issue a verdict against Rusesabagina, 67, but postponed it until Sept. 20.

Prosecutors have asked the court to hand down a life sentence to Rusesabagina.

He faces multiple charges including forming an illegal armed group, financing terror activities, murder, kidnapping and arson, in a trial he has boycotted since March on claims of “unfairness and lack of independence.”

The prosecution requested a sentence for each of the nine charges, ranging from 10 years to life.

They allege that Rusesabagina was behind a series of attacks against innocent civilians in Rwanda’s southern districts of Nyaruguru and Nyamagabe between 2018 and 2019. He was arrested in August 2020. - James Tasamba, Anadolu Agency

A lorry driver who tried to smuggle £2 million worth of drugs into the UK by hiding it in his mattress has been jailed for more than five years.

Alessio Giovannetti, 36, stashed the packages containing 70 kilos of ketamine and 20 kilos of mephedrone in spaces around the cab.

More drugs were discovered stashed inside his mattress where he slept in the vehicle, the National Crime Agency said. 

Giovannetti’s truck was carrying lettuce from Europe through the Port of Dover in Kent when Border Force officers stopped him on 29 May.

Read more: Social worker posted indecent child video in colleagues' leaving do WhatsApp chat

Read more: Young parents on night out killed when car ‘travelling 85mph’ crashed into roundabout

When questioned by investigators, Giovannetti said the packages smelt bad so he hid them in different places around his cab to stop the smell.

He also claimed he believed the packages were of horse medication that he did not think was illegal.

Giovannetti, from Italy, was charged with two counts of attempting to import class B drugs.

At Canterbury Crown Court on Thursday, he pleaded guilty and was sentenced to five years and seven months in jail.

Forensic experts estimated the drugs had a street value of £2m.

Daren Nicholls, NCA senior investigating officer, said after the hearing: "Alessio Giovannetti went to great efforts to hide these drugs around his cab, claiming it was their bad smell that caused him to conceal his illegal haul.

"Drug runners like Giovannetti should not doubt that we are determined to catch them and bring them to justice.

"These drugs would have caused serious harm if they had reached the streets of the UK and we will continue to work with our Border Force partners to ensure criminal activity like Giovannetti's is disrupted." By Jimmy Nsubuga, Yahoo News