The defence lawyer for Alphonse Rugambarara, leader of the MSP-Inkinzo party and spokesman for the G-8 group of Tutsi parties opposed to President Pierre Buyoya, has called for the immediate and unconditional release of his client. Laurent Nzeyimana said Rugambarara’s arrest and detention were “irregular” and a violation of the new law on penal reform which came into effect on 1 January 2001, the private Netpress news agency reported. Rugambarara was recently arrested on charges of “spreading subversion”, shortly after addressing a news conference to explain the latest round of talks in Arusha, although Burundi’s prosecutor-general denied there was a link. The G-8 group, negotiating in Arusha, backs the candidacy of former interior minister Colonel Epitace Bayaganakandi as transitional president.
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