Burundian activist sentenced to 32 years in prison

BUJUMBURA, Burundi

A court in Burundi has sentenced a human rights activist to 32 years in prison for taking part in demonstrations against President Pierre Nkurunziza, a judicial source told Anadolu Agency on Friday.

Ferdinand Ndikuriyo, a high court judge in the capital Bujumbura, said Germain Rukuki was found guilty of taking part “in an insurrectional movement with the aim of changing the constitutional regime, the murder of police and soldiers on May 13, 2015, and the destruction of both public and private property.”

Rukuki was arrested in July 2017 in Bujumbura by agents of the Burundian intelligence service on charges of "undermining the internal security of the state."

His conviction has been denounced by several human rights organizations, including the International Federation for Human Rights (FIDH), which said it was “the heaviest sentence ever passed for a human rights defender in Burundi.”

''Rukuki's sentence to 32 years in prison shows that there is no more protection,” ACAT-Burundi, (The Action by Christians for the abolition of torture in Burundi) tweeted.

Several civil society organizations are often accused of collaborating with the radical opposition movements in Burundi.

Unrest in Burundi started in April 2015 when Nkurunziza announced his candidacy for a controversial third term, whereas only two terms are allowed by the constitution.

The crisis so far has led to hundreds of deaths and forced hundreds of thousands to flee the country and seek refuge in neighboring states, according to the UN.

Reporting by Jean Bosco Nzosoba: Writing by Felix Nkambeh Tih