Burundi opposition chief charged with rebellion: prosecutor


Opposition Movement for Solidarity and Development (MSD) party leader,
Alexis Sinduhije, and 71 supporters have been charged with rebellion
after violent clashes last week, amid worsening tensions in Burundi.
Sinduhije, who is on the run from police, and the other activists face
life in jail if found guilty. Photo/FILE AFP
By AFP
Posted Wednesday, March 12 2014 at 17:48
IN SUMMARY
Party leader Alexis Sinduhije, who is on the run from police, and the
other activists face life in jail if found guilty.
Burundi charged the leader of a key opposition party and 71 supporters
with rebellion Wednesday after violent clashes last week, a prosecutor
said, amid worsening tensions in the small central African nation.
Party leader Alexis Sinduhije, who is on the run from police, and the
other activists face life in jail if found guilty.
State prosecutor Arcade Nimubona told AFP the activists from the
Movement for Solidarity and Development (MSD) party were arrested
Saturday after large numbers took part in a "group jog" to the centre
of the capital Bujumbura, where they were dispersed by riot police
firing tear gas.
An AFP reporter said some 200 people sought refuge at the party
headquarters, taking two officers hostage, before police stormed the
building.
Clashes lasted for over an hour, with at least 20 activists and five
policemen wounded.
Nimubona said that 71 of those arrested after the clashes had been
charged with "rebellion, insult and violence towards the custodians of
public order, and the participation in an armed insurrection."
An arrest warrant has been issued for Sinduhije for his "participation
in an armed insurrection as a leader of the movement," said Nimubona,
adding he hoped trials would begin as "quickly as possible".
'Dangerous escalation' of tensions
Sinduhije, a former journalist and founder of one of the most listened
to private radio stations RPA, only returned to Burundi last year
after fleeing violence following elections in 2010.
His MSD party, founded in 2009, is supported largely by the youth, but
like most of Burundi's opposition parties, it boycotted the
presidential and legislative elections the following year.
The United Nations in Burundi on Monday expressed concern about the
"radicalisation" of both the opposition and government, calling for
restraint and dialogue ahead of elections scheduled for 2015, in which
President Pierre Nkurunziza is expected to campaign for a third term
in office.
The US State Department has also condemned both the excessive use of
force against the opposition and the taking of police officers as
hostages by the activists.
READ: US condemns 'heavy-handed tactics' by Burundi police in clashes
Tensions between the ruling party CNDD-FDD of President Pierre
Nkurunziza and opposition parties have grown in recent weeks.
Last month leaders of the opposition Uprona party were arrested, which
threatened to upset a delicate power-sharing arrangement between
Burundi's majority Hutu and minority Tutsi communities, who are still
struggling to reconcile after decades of conflict.
Burundi's history is marred by bitter ethnic killings and civil war.
Tensions remain high, with rebel gunmen launching a series of attacks
since the 2010 boycott of General Election.
Civil society leader Pacifique Nininahazwe said the arrests and
charges against the MSD party members had made him "fear for the
future", adding that both government and the opposition are locked
into a pattern of confrontation.
"It does not bode well for the 2015 elections, and even peace in this
country," he told AFP.
"If nothing is done, if the international community does not put
pressure on both sides, including for there to be an opening up of the
political arena in this country, the general elections in 2015 will be
seriously off track," he added.
A diplomat in Bujumbura, speaking on condition of anonymity, warned of
a" dangerous escalation" of tensions in the country.
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