Bunyoni case : the Burundian judiciary prosecutes the former Prime Minister for notably undermining the State’s internal security

It is the spokeswoman for the Attorney General of the Republic and the Supreme Court who declared this on Monday. The former all-powerful Prime Minister risks facing 30 years in prison. INFO SOS Médias Burundi

Agnès Bangiricenge, spokesperson for the General Prosecutor’s Office of the Republic and the Supreme Court was very brief. Responding to a question from a local journalist, she said that Police General Alain Guillaume Bunyoni is prosecuted for “undermining the State’s internal security, undermining the national economy and abuse of authority for improper personal interests”. Ms. Bangiricenge spoke in a program by spokespersons for state institutions which took place in the province of Cibitoke, northwest Burundi.

The spokesperson for the Attorney General of the Republic and the Supreme Court also confirmed what our sources had told SOS Médias Burundi this Sunday.

“General Bunyoni is held in an SNR (National Intelligence Service) cell and has no right to visitors”. “His family could see him in the next few days”, she said.

During the live program and after, Agnès Bangiricenge could not specify the year in which the crimes for which former Prime Minister Alain Guillaume Bunyoni was accused were perpetrated. If it is established that they were perpetrated when he was in this position, no Burundian Court has the jurisdiction to judge him. “[…] a prime minister is judged by the high court of justice that the Burundian authorities are reluctant to set up”, analyzes a representative of the local civil society.

But the spokesperson for the Head of State believes that everything is in order to be able to judge General Bunyoni. “It is written nowhere that it is a full court. It is rather the supreme court and the constitutional court which come together. In this case, the president of the supreme court becomes president of the sitting judges and the Attorney General of the Republic representing the Public Ministry”, she explained from Cibitoke on Monday, citing article 239 of the Burundian constitution.

For the coalition of the civil party lawyers for justice in Burundi, the Burundian judiciary should collaborate with the International Criminal Court in the Bunyoni case.

“The Coalition of Civil Party Lawyers insists that Police General Alain Guillaume Bunyoni benefits from all the procedural guarantees recognized by international standards in title of the rights of defence, which benefits any accused person but also beneficiary of the presumption of innocence.

The Coalition of Civil Party Lawyers recalls that the Office of the Prosecutor at the Criminal Court has been investigating for many years the crimes perpetrated during the period 2015–2017 in Burundi and the Coalition is convinced that the file compiled by the Office of the Prosecutor is certainly instructive for analyzing the responsibilities of the leaders of the time for the crimes perpetrated to the detriment of the population of which so many citizens have given the Coalition a mandate.

In this specific context, the Coalition of Lawyers for Civil Parties insistently requests that the Attorney General of the Republic of Burundi is approaching the Office of the Prosecutor of the International Criminal Court to analyze together the elements of which the two Offices have knowledge and examine the ways and means to ensure efficient and effective justice in this specific context”, says a press release issued by the coalition on Monday.

“The Coalition of Civil Party Lawyers recalls that Police General Alain Guillaume Bunyoni can be tried either in Bujumbura or in The Hague within the framework of judicial cooperation between the Burundian State and the International Criminal Court which can also ensure the apprehension of the person concerned and his transfer to The Hague in the context of the issuance of an international arrest warrant.

In any event, the Coalition of Civil Party Lawyers insists on the respect for the rule of law in the management of this situation”, concludes the press release.