BUJUMBURA December 6th (ABP) – Burundi’s National Assembly (AN) rejects the arguments put forward by the chairman of the African Union Commission, Faki Mahamat Moussa, arguing that the case of the assassination of President Melchior Ndadaye in 1993 falls under the jurisdiction of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission (TRC).
For the National Assembly, this case does not concern the TRC.A statement issued on Tuesday December 5, 2018 by National Assembly Speaker Pascal Nyabenda, and read by its spokesman Alexis Badian Ndayihimbaze, states that the legal proceedings against the alleged perpetrators / planners of the assassination of President Ndadaye is a normal action of Burundian justice, contrary to the remarks of Mr. Mahamat Moussa, according to which these actions are an act that could undermine the national unity and hinder the TRC activities.
“Burundi is not in crisis and no current situation would prevent Burundian institutions from functioning normally. Burundian justice is only pursuing an action it has already begun, and the TRC has no mission to prevent the courts, and in this case the highest court of the country, from closing pending cases brought to them”. The National Assembly recalls that a judgment of the Supreme Court of Burundi has been rendered but that an appeal in cassation against the said judgment has been formulated and that the procedure has not been closed until now. Those prosecuted at first were executants of the order, as noted in the statement. And the public prosecutor has just opened investigations against other people involved in this case, some of whom are currently in pre-trial detention.
This lower house of Burundian Parliament contradicts the arguments that the judicial procedure, which has just been initiated by the Public Prosecutor, would be a political manipulation or a diversionary maneuver. It categorically rejects the idea that the action of the Burundian justice would complicate the search for a consensual solution in the framework of the inter-Burundian dialogue which is nearing its end. To that end, it calls on international organizations to stop interfering in Burundi’s home affairs that are part of national sovereignty and to let Burundian justice do its work.
The National Assembly considers that this is rather the continuation of an action it has already initiated and which it intends to close. It encourages and supports the Burundian justice to continue to conduct thorough investigations in order to definitively eradicate impunity in our country so that no Burundian or foreigner thinks more about overthrowing the democratically elected institutions.
