Burundi takes 18 suspects in failed coup to court

Burundi took 18 people suspected of involvement in a failed coup against President Pierre Nkurunziza to the high court on Saturday, relatives of some of the accused said. Earlier, about a hundred demonstrators took to the streets of Bujumbura to protest against Nkurunziza’s decision to seek a third term, defying the president’s call the previous day for an end to the weeks-long protests. The east African nation was plunged into deep crisis after Nkurunziza announced he was running for another five-year term, with clashes between police and protesters stirring memories of an ethnically driven civil war that ended a decade ago.

A lot of us citizens do not want the constitution to be violated as he is not allowed to lead for the third term…. We will demonstrate until he steps down.

Nduwimana Belamie, one of the protesters

Opponents say Nkurunziza’s decision violates the constitution and the Arusha deal to end the war that pitted rebel groups of the majority Hutu population, including one led by Nkurunziza, against the army which was then commanded by minority Tutsis. The army is now mixed and has absorbed rival factions, but the coup attempt exposed divisions. The fate of General Godefroid Niyombare, who had announced the president’s ouster on Wednesday, was still not clear on Saturday.

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