Bujumbura : managers of a commercial and manufacturing company arrested and then detained

A general manager of a commercial and manufacturing company based in Bujumbura, the commercial city of Burundi,
and his assistant have been detained in the central prison of Bujumbura called Mpimba since Tuesday. They were transferred there around 2:40 a.m.

INFO SOS Médias Burundi

Protais Dushimirimana and Bella Mukunzi were arrested in the afternoon of Monday in Bujumbura. They are suspected of being involved in the illegal sale of fuel, according to a joint statement by Vice-President Prosper Bazombanza and Attorney General Léonard Manirakiza.

Mr. Dushimirimana and Mrs. Mukunzi were arrested by agents of the National Intelligence Service (SNR) at the headquarters of their company in the commercial city of Bujumbura.

Four other managers of this company called “DITCO”, including a woman, are also in detention. Their place of detention has not yet been communicated but they are reportedly held in the SNR dungeons in the commercial capital.

Witnesses say that no tangible evidence was discovered by secret service agents when they searched the offices of the company “DITCO” and questioned its staff.

“There is probably a plan to rob shareholders of this company by trickery,” analyzes a source close to this case.

In their statement that was broadcast on RTNB (Burundi National Radio and Television), Vice-President Prosper Bazombanza and Attorney General Leonard Manirakiza, put forward only one piece of evidence : a company vehicle – a Mercedes-Benz, which was allegedly seized while being used in the illegal sale of fuel. There had been no reaction yet from relatives of those imprisoned in this case, nor from their lawyers. It was also not yet clear whether Protais Dushimirimana and his team were assisted by a lawyer at the time of the interrogation that took place at the Attorney General’s Office of the Republic on Monday evening.

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Four of the six managers of the company “DITCO” in detention, DR