Suspected coup plotters to be charged, attorney-general says

Burundi's attorney-general, Jean Bosco Ndikumana, said on Tuesday that six politicians and an army officer arrested for allegedly plotting a coup would be charged in court within two days.

Two of the suspects appeared before Ndikumana on what he described as a routine procedure. "They were here because their legal stay in custody had expired," he said.

"The police wanted me to prolong their detention to get time to complete the investigations. I think in two days the case will be transferred to court," he added.

Under Burundian law, detainees can only remain in custody for a maximum of seven days, after which they must appear in court.

The seven detainees, who include former Vice-President Alphonse Marie Kadege, have been in the custody of Burundi's intelligence service for a week.

Kadege's wife, Ruth Magerano, said she expected the attorney-general to transfer her husband to Mpimba Prison. "At least this will give his lawyer, François Nyamoya, access to him," she added.

Magerano said Kadege's first lawyer, Isidore Rufyikiri, had been arrested after he wrote a letter to the intelligence service demanding a medical report following claims that secret service agents had tortured his client.

However, at a meeting on Thursday with diplomats accredited to Bujumbura, Communications Minister Rhamadhan Karenga denied that the detainees had been mistreated. He said they had been questioned in accordance with the law.

Human-rights groups said during a visit to the detainees last week that they saw evidence of torture, although the government denies this.

A human-rights activist from the local Ligue Iteka group, Joseph Mujiji, said on Monday that Kadege and another detainee, Col Damien Ndarisigaranye, could hardly stand up after being beaten. He said Ndarisigaranye told him he had been beaten on the head.

Officials of the UN Operation in Burundi (ONUB) were not available for comment on Tuesday, but in a statement issued after the arrests, ONUB said it was concerned about the allegations of torture. It urged the government to make all the information relating to the arrests available to the national and international community.

"The new [arrests] constitute a threat and may jeopardise the commendable achievements of the peace process in Burundi," ONUB had said.

Besides Kadege and Ndarisigaranye, the other detainees include Alain Mugabarabona, the chairman of the Forces nationales de liberation-Icanzo; Deo Niyonzima from the Parti pour la reconciliation du peuple; and Rufyikiri.

Karenga had, however, told diplomats on Thursday that the coup plot involved some 15 people. Arrest warrants for Pancrace Cimpaye and Isaie Simbare, two former close aides of former President Domitien Ndayiziye were also issued but they have not so far been arrested.

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