Bujumbura : at least four magistrates arrested

Ferdinand Ntizoyimana, president of the Ntahangwa First Instance Court, north of the commercial city Bujumbura, Éric Ndikumana, deputy attorney general at the Ntahangwa Court of Appeal and two magistrates assigned to the office of the justice minister are in detention. The crimes with which they are accused are not the same. INFO SOS Médias Burundi

According to prison sources, Ferdinand Ntizoyimana and Éric Ndikumana arrived at Bujumbura central prison known as Mpimba on Monday evening around 8 p.m. They were in the company of another person whose identity is not yet clear.

The president of the Ntahangwa First Instance Court and the deputy attorney general at the Ntahangwa Court of Appeal were arrested on Monday, judicial sources told SOS Médias Burundi.

“They are accused of having allowed the sale of a vehicle which had been seized by the courts. The vehicle belonged to a Congolese citizen. What is serious, the machine was entrusted to the losing party who “volatilized in nature”, a judge from Bujumbura told SOS Médias Burundi.

But for other sources close to the matter, the two men were arrested “for several other breaches”.

Our sources specify that two other magistrates assigned to the office of the justice minister were arrested the same day. They are a certain Anicet Rivugo and another magistrate. An orderly from the Mukaza Court (center of Bujumbura) was also arrested.

The motives for their arrests are not yet clear. It is also not yet clear whether it was one of them who was seen in the company of Ferdinand Ntizoyimana and Éric Ndikumana at the central prison of Bujumbura.

A spokesperson for the public prosecutor’s office and the ministry responsible for justice did not want to comment on this matter.

On August 31, seven other magistrates assigned to the provinces of Gitega and Karusi in east-central Burundi were arrested. Prosecuted in a case of corruption and fraud, they have been detained in Bujumbura prison since last Wednesday.