36 found guilty of coup bid

2004-04-22 10:42

Bujumbura - The Burundian armed forces said Wednesday that 36 people, almost all of them members of the armed forces, had been found guilty by the military court of taking part in a failed coup attempt in the capital Bujumbura in July 2001.

They were given prison sentences of between one and 15 years after Tuesday's ruling. Another 64 people, 59 of them soldiers, were acquitted on the grounds that they were obeying orders.

The coup attempt took place on the night of July 22, 2001 when a group tried to overthrow the Tutsi president Pierre Buyoya before a new government was due to take office in November, in which posts were to be more equitably shared between Hutus and the minority Tutsis. One soldier was killed and two were wounded in the attempt.

Tutsis were reported to be behind the coup, fearing that Tutsi domination of the armed forces would give way to Hutu influence.

The heaviest sentences were imposed on sub-lieutenant Audace Nizeye and lieutenants Remi Nsengiyunva, Vincent Kamenyero and Gilbert Nkurunziza, said to be the brains behind the coup attempt, who were given respectively 15, 13, 12 and 10 year sentences.

Thirty other soldiers, among them two officers, were sent to prison for between one and three years, while two civilians were found guilty of complicity in the coup bid and given setences of three and seven years.

A total of 59 junior ranks who took part were acquitted because "they did no more than obey the orders of their superiors", according to a military source, as were five civilians.

- AFP