Bubanza: the provincial court sentenced an Imbonerakure accused of murder to twenty years in prison

Jean Paul Muhire pleaded guilty. He spoke of an “accidental” act and begged for clemency from the judges. The prosecution had requested life jail for the suspect. INFO SOS Médias Burundi

It was in a flagrance trial that Jean Paul Muhire, member of the CNDD-FDD youth league was tried on Tuesday by the First Instance Court of Bubanza (western Burundi).

The accused pleaded guilty in this criminal case.

“It was an accident. The incident took place under the influence of alcohol, we shared beer with Ezéchiel Nzoyikorera. We come from the same province of Ngozi (northern Burundi). We even worked in a same restaurant”, Jean Paul Muhire tried to convince judges.

Judges ruled on twenty years in prison. The prosecution had requested life sentence speaking of “premeditated crime”.

In the night of December 7, 2022, Jean Paul Muhire stabbed his friend Ezéchiel Nzoyikorera for a case of one thousand Burundi francs (less than a dollar). The victim died in a hospital the next morning.

In a trial in which the relatives of the victim did not attend (because they live far away), no compensation or fine was demanded from the accused.