Bunyoni-case : the former prime minister recruited a criminal enterprise to assassinate President Neva (Public Prosecutor)

The trial of General Bunyoni continues before the Supreme Court sitting in Gitega (political capital). On Wednesday, the public prosecutor accused General Bunyoni of harming the national economy. He reported that the former prime minister held a significant amount of foreign currency at his home. He provided his currency to a criminal enterprise to kill President Évariste Ndayishimiye in particular, according to the prosecution. The defendant rejected all the allegations made against him. INFO SOS Médias Burundi

According to the public prosecutor, General Bunyoni gave currency to police colonel Désiré Uwamahoro, former commander of the Anti-Riot Brigade, with the aim of “overthrowing the constitutional regime”.

He spoke of currencies that were kept at the former prime minister’s residence, instead of being placed in the bank.

According to the public prosecutor, this way of keeping currencies at one’s residence destabilized the exchange rate in the small East African nation.

“No law prevents me from keeping bank notes at my home to meet my needs”, General Bunyoni retorted.

In the hearing on November 8, he also had to justify himself on the illegal taking of interests.

Here, the public prosecutor spoke of a building rental contract between Hyacinthe Niyonkuru (Bunyoni’s wife) and the government of Burundi. The building, located in Sororezo in the commercial city Bujumbura, is reserved for 15 million Burundi francs per month, according to the prosecution.

For the public prosecutor, the fact that General Bunyoni is legally married to Hyacinthe Niyonkuru and that Burundi recognizes community property, he benefited from the interests of this contract.

The former prime minister quickly reacted saying that the ministry of public security of which he was the chief never negotiated the award of the contract. He added that “I never signed any commitments in the contract as the then Minister of Public Security.”

According to Bunyoni, his wife signed a contract with the ministries of public works and finance.

“The Ministry of Public Security is just a simple occupier”, he defended.

Désiré Uwamahoro and Samuel Destiné Bapfumukeko

Police Colonel Désiré Uwamahoro and Burundian intelligence officer Samuel Destiné Bapfumukeko justified themselves on “the violation of professional secrets”.

The first is suspected of having revealed to General Bunyoni a plan aimed at arresting him at the same time as the second is accused of having revealed the plan to arrest the former prime minister and search General Bunyoni’s house. He is also accused of having continued to inform Bunyoni about the actions undertaken by the SNR (National Intelligence Service) during his escape. Both men denied the accusations. Police Colonel Désiré Uwamahoro, known for the repression of protests against another controversial term of the late President Pierre Nkurunziza in 2015, abuse and violence against residents of protest areas in the years that followed, took the stand Bible in hand.

“I accepted all the accusations against me because I was under threats. I was clearly told that it would be my last day if I refused to sign on the report that was presented to me or recognize it”, he told the judges.

The trial continues this Thursday at Gitega central prison where Mr. Bunyoni is detained. According to our observation, even if there was no measure preventing people from going to this detention house which is always guarded by several police officers each time Bunyoni appears, very few people follow the hearing which takes place in a room that can accommodate around fifty people.