Burundi: ex-Prime Minister Bunyoni charged and imprisoned for "endangering state security"

Burundian Alain-Guillaume Bunyoni, here with the then-governor of Cibitoke province, on May 12, 2018 near the border with the DRC. © AFP

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The former Prime Minister and number 2 in power, General Alain-Guillaume Bunyoni, was imprisoned Monday, May 8 in Ngozi prison, in the North, after being officially charged Friday.

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Handcuffed, trousers and shirt of the green color worn by prisoners in Burundi, Alain Guillaume Bunyoni entered the Bujumbura courthouse surrounded by police officers who jostled him from time to time to go quickly. "Those who witnessed his arrival are not about to forget this scene," a witness told RFI.

He therefore appeared before the Council Chamber of the Supreme Court, which confirmed his imprisonment for the three crimes that the justice system already accused him of: "undermining the internal security of the State" and "the proper functioning of the national economy", as well as "illegal taking of interests". Then added "illegal possession of weapons and insult to the head of state", without further details. He faces up to 30 years in prison, according to a lawyer.

An immensely rich and feared man, Alain-Guillaume Bunyoni was part of the small circle of generals who rule the country with an iron fist since the accession to power of the former CNDD-FDD rebellion 18 years ago. Arrested about twenty days ago in circumstances not yet clarified after a surprise search of his many homes, he was until now kept incommunicado by the National Intelligence Service (SNR) which depends directly on the Burundian presidency.

After more than two weeks without any outside contact, he was able to talk to his family for a few minutes before being taken to Ngozi prison, 130 km north of Bujumbura, where an entire wing occupied so far by a hundred detainees was evacuated to welcome him. It has been refurbished and equipped with a bed, a seat toilet, a shower and a gym. This while 1,500 other detainees crowd into the 300 or so places that remain, in conditions described as "inhumane" by human rights organizations.

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• Burundi