Bunyoni case : the public prosecutor requested life jail for the former prime minister

The public prosecutor requested a life jail sentence for General Alain Guillaume Bunyoni and 30 years in prison for six other people prosecuted in the same case as him. The six concerned include : Police Colonel Désiré Uwamahoro (former commander of the anti-riot brigade), Samuel Destiné Bapfumukeko (Burundian intelligence officer), two former Bunyoni drivers, his former engineer as well as the Mubone village chief in the province of Bujumbura (western Burundi) where Bunyoni was hiding before his arrest last April. The defendants pleaded not guilty and asked to be acquitted. INFO SOS Médias Burundi

Several charges were brought against Bunyoni.
This involves an attack on the internal security of the State, an attack on the proper functioning of the national economy, contempt of the Head of State and the Prime Minister, illegal taking of interests, illegal possession of weapons, plot against the head of state to overthrow the constitutional regime, use of witchcraft to try to assassinate President Évariste Ndayishimiye.

Fines

For the fines, the public prosecutor requested double the value of “153 houses and plots as well as 43 vehicles” which constitute “Bunyoni’s ill-gotten assets”. The total amount has not been communicated. He should also pay more than 7.1 million Burundi francs into the State coffers.

The former prime minister pleaded not guilty and asked to be released unconditionally, considering “that there were never any criminal elements”. He asked the Court to acquit him.

30 years in prison for Bunyoni’s co-defendants

The prosecution requested 30 years in prison for six other people prosecuted in the same case as the former prime minister.

They include Police Colonel Désiré Uwamahoro, former commander of the anti-riot brigade, Samuel Destiné Bapfumukeko (Burundian intelligence official), Côme Niyonsaba, former Bunyoni engineer, his two former drivers Didace Igiraneza, Isaac Banirwaninzigo and Melchiade Nduwimana, head of Mubone village in Bujumbura province in western Burundi where General Bunyoni was hiding before his arrest last April.

All six also pleaded not guilty citing “the absence of material and intentional elements”.

The case was taken under advisement. The presiding judge said the Court’s ruling will be announced within a period not exceeding 30 days, in accordance with the criminal procedure code in force in the small East African nation regarding criminal cases.

Unlike in previous years, embassies did not send representatives to follow the Bunyoni trial as was the case in trials involving activists, political figures or even journalists.

Only an official from the CNIDH (Independent National Human Rights Commission) went there on November 6, the first day of the trial.

If the crimes with which the former Hutu rebel is accused are proven, he will become the first highest ranking member of the Burundian security forces sanctioned by the Burundian justice system.