Gitega : three Imbonerakure suspected of murder in detention

Égide Manirambona, Sylvain Kwizera and Roger Nahayo, members of the CNDD-FDD youth league, the Imbonerakure, are detained in the central prison of Gitega (political capital). They are suspects in “the murder of a man” who was assassinated last August. INFO SOS Médias Burundi

The three detainees are from Rukoba in the commune and province of Gitega (central Burundi). The crime for which they are being prosecuted was committed last August in the same locality.

Arrested on the orders of the Gitega prosecutor on October 8 and sent to the provincial police station the same day, the three Imbonerakure were transferred to the Gitega prison on October 11.

A fourth suspect, also a member of the CNDD-FDD youth league, is still being sought by the police. He took off on the day others were arrested. Residents believe that it was the local CNDD-FDD leader who should have been arrested first. They accuse him of having ordered the murder for which the three Imbonerakure are being prosecuted, and other abuses including assassinations targeting opponents in this area. Désiré Habimana has always denied these allegations.

Vital Ndabemeye, their voctim, was a member of the Batwa community, a minority and poor tribe in Burundi. The head of UNIPROBA (Let’s Unite for the Promotion of the Batwa) in the province of Gitega, Didace Badadwe, says he is satisfied with these arrests. He asks the justice system to “punish the perpetrators of this murder in an exemplary manner”.