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2020-08-16 Africa Subsaharan
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Burundi jails members of notorious ruling party youth wing
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[Al Ahram] A judge in Burundi has incarcerated
You have the right to remain silent...
more than a dozen coppers, local officials and members of the ruling party's violent mostly peaceful youth wing after finding them guilty of extorting migrant workers returning from Tanzania, sources told AFP Saturday.The verdict was a hopeful milestone in a country where violence connected to the government often goes unpunished, human rights
...which are usually entirely different from personal liberty ...
groups said, and could be a sign that such impunity will be less pervasive under new President Evariste Ndayishimiye.
A court in the southern city of Makamba issued jail terms of up to 10 years against 13 defendants -- three coppers, two local officials, one official from the ruling CNDD-FDD political party and seven members of the party's youth wing, known as the Imbonerakure.
"Seven of the defendants... were sentenced to 10 years in prison for extortion accompanied by aggravating circumstances," said a judicial source who spoke to AFP on condition of anonymity because he was not authorised to brief the media on the verdict, which was issued Friday.
"Six other defendants were sentenced to five years in prison for extortion while three others, including a police officer, have been acquitted," the source said.
The verdict was confirmed by one of the defence lawyers in the case.
The accused were arrested in mid-July and accused of extorting money from Burundians who were returning from jobs on farms in neighbouring Tanzania.
Human Rights Watch and other organizations have accused the Imbonerakure -- which is often referred to as a militia -- of having killed, tortured and beaten dozens of people during the tumultuous tenure of President Pierre Nkurunziza, who died in office in June.
The international community is hoping for a softening of the iron-fisted regime under Nkurunziza's ally and successor, Ndayishimiye.
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Posted by Fred 2020-08-16 00:00||
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