Bururi : two soldiers prosecuted for assassination appear before court

1st class Alexandre Bigirimana and 1st class Aristide Akimana, two soldiers serving in the Burundian army, appeared on Tuesday before the military prosecutor’s office in Bururi (southern Burundi). They are accused of murder by the public prosecutor. These soldiers are suspected of having killed a motorcycle taxi rider with a machete on the night of February 20 in Ndago village, in Songa district of Bururi province. INFO SOS Médias Burundi

The two soldiers had taken the motorcycle taxi to go to Bururi from the town center of Matana before attacking the driver.

“They wanted to steal the victim’s motorcycle. After his death, they took the motorcycle to go to Bururi. They were intercepted by the population of Karimbi village the same night,” reported a source on site.

Residents of Karimbi village came to the stand to testify against the two alleged perpetrators of the murder before military judges.

One of the suspects asked the Military Court for time to bring a defense witness claiming that at the time of the crime, he was at the Kamenge neuropsychiatric center in Bujumbura (commercial city) where he was watching over a sick soldier, what the judges accepted.

The case was postponed to a later date which has not been specified.

The postponement did not please the victim’s family. Those close to him believe that these are delaying tactics.