Burundi's Supreme Court has sentenced two people to jail terms ranging from 15 to 20 years and acquitted four others, including former President Domitien Ndayizeye, over charges of plotting a coup.
The court ruled on Monday that the evidence submitted by the prosecution was insufficient to convict Ndayizeye, former vice-president Alphonse Marie Kadege, a lawyer, Isidore Rufyikiri, Col Damien Ndarisigaranye and political party leader Déo Niyonzima. The four were released on Tuesday.
Supreme Court President Marie-Ancilla Ntakaburimvo said the five were acquitted because the prosecution had based its accusations against them upon the evidence of only one witness.
"In the absence of other sound evidence, the evidence of one witness becomes null and void," she ruled.
However, Ntakaburimvo said the court had found two other defendants guilty of plotting to overthrow President Pierre Nkurunziza.
The court sentenced Alain Mugabarabona, chairman of the Forces nationales de liberation (FNL-Icanzo) political party, to 20 years in prison. Tharcisse Ndayishimiye, who also appeared as a prosecution witness, was sentenced to 15 years. The two have 30 days to appeal against their sentences.
All seven accused were arrested in August 2006 and accused of planning to overthrow Nkurunziza's government. Ndayizeye, a member of the largest pro-Hutu political party, FRODEBU, led the country during a transitional phase that ended when Nkurunziza took power after elections in August 2005. Kadege was Ndayizeye's vice-president until he was sacked in 2004.
During the hearing, the prosecution relied on evidence provided by Mugabarabona, who told the court that intelligence officials had tortured him into naming the people he alleged were involved in plotting the coup.
Ntakaburimvo ruled that Mugabarabona and Ndayishimiye had admitted their involvement in the coup plot during the trial. He said even if Mugabarabona maintained that he had made the statements under torture, the court had not found any evidence of torture.
Human rights organisations had condemned the detention of Ndayizeye and his co-accused, saying the case was one among many rights abuses in the country. The arrests of the seven followed reports of summary executions in July and August and arbitrary arrests of civic society activists and journalists.
Opposition political parties also complained that the coup allegations were an invention of the government aimed at silencing the opposition. Court proceedings were adjourned in November 2006 after the defendants questioned the judges' impartiality.
Monday's acquittal of the five eases the tension between the government and the opposition, with some opposition leaders terming the ruling a mark of the independence of the judiciary.
The largest pro-Tutsi political party, UPRONA, of which Kadege is a member, said the court's decision was an honour to Burundian justice. However, in a statement, the party said on Tuesday it deplored the fact that "on simple allegations from a person, respectable people are persecuted and detained without evidence".
According to the African Union Mission in Burundi, the court's decision was a "triumph of law and justice".
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