General elections in Burundi: several opposition leaders arrested

Text by: RFI Follow

The tension was high before the triple ballot on May 20. For the presidential election, the candidate of the ruling party, General Évariste Ndayishimiye, is considered the favorite, but his main challenger, Agathon Rwasa of the CNL, also attracts human tides in his meetings. Violence has increased in recent weeks and the government, which makes the main opposition party responsible, has started to rage.

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About sixty CNL activists have already been arrested, police said. It is party officials who seem to be targeted this time.

After the arrest, two days ago, of Katy Kezimana , n ° 2 on the list of the CNL in the legislative elections in the province of rural Bujumbura, in the west of the country, it is Séverin Nibizi, n ° 2 on his list in the province of Ruyigi in the East who was arrested in turn yesterday, according to his spokesman.

And the Burundian government has warned, it will not stop there. Interior Minister Pascal Barandagiye warns: “  We see that it is the CNL which is responsible by far for the greatest number of incidents on the ground. Its activists commit too many blunders. That's why we tell them, enough is enough! We will no longer tolerate it. We call on the justice system to try them very quickly, it is the only way to stop this violence!  "

" We are used to injustice "

Victim of years of fierce repression, according to NGOs, the CNL party and its leader have kept a low profile for a long time. They have changed dramatically since the start of the campaign. They now criticize without concession a power which they describe as "  corrupt  " and which "  has failed on all counts  ", according to them.

And his presidential candidate, Agathon Rwasa, no longer hesitates to publicly challenge the CNDD-FDD party , which has controlled the country with an iron fist so far, calling on its activists to "  defend themselves  " if they are attacked: "  What is clear is that our adversaries have died of fear. I would like to ask the security forces and the justice system not to fall into this trap. We are used to injustice anyway, but know that the time for bullying is soon over, it is soon over!  "

This standoff is therefore not ready to end, observers say, who fear a new outbreak of violence in the country.

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