Sources report that police officers alongside agents of the National Intelligence Service arrested five people including the former administrator of Buyenzi Commune Barthazar Nzeyimana. They were all at his home located on the 21th Avenue in Buyenzi district in the center of the capital Bujumbura in the night of May 6th 2018.
The house of Balthazar Nzeyimana where those five people were arrested
According to eyewitnesses, more than 30 people mainly women had met in that house to hold a meeting as Roman Catholic Church members. Two people in civilian uniform accompanied by the police officers arrested four men who had attended this meeting as well as Barthazar Nzeyimana.
“This old man in his eighties was sleeping when police officer raided his house,” says a source adding that “he had not participated in this meeting since he had just returned home. »
The same source reports that police officers accused them of holding an illegal meeting. “Yet this meeting was announced on Sunday at Saint Augustin Parish in Buyenzi. We even showed them a letter signed by the parish priest authorizing this meeting. They did not believe us, “said the source adding that such meetings were being held in other areas of Buyenzi zone.
Family members of the arrested people worry about their safety. “Until now, we know neither where they are detained nor the reasons for their arrest,” says a member of Nzeyimana’s family.
Contacted, Dismas Manirakiza, Burundi police spokesman, has said he is not aware of the arrests.
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