Case History: Bob Rugurika
Bob Rugurika went into exile after the government used violent repression and targeted killings in support of President Nkurunziza's determintion to extend his rule to a third presidential term.
On 19 February 2015, human rights defender Mr Bob Rugurika was finally released from Muramvya prison. The day before, a judge had accepted the human rights defender's appeal and ordered his conditional provisional release on a bond of 15 million Burundian Francs (approximately €8400).
Bob Rugurika is the Director of Radio Publique Africaine – RPA (African Public Radio), a private radio station of Burundi known for dealing with human rights-related issues. The human rights defender has been under surveillance and received threatening phone calls in the past, after RPA reported on leads pertaining to the killing in 2009 of anti-corruption activist Mr Ernest Manirumva, ex-vice president of the Observatoire de Lutte Contre la Corruption et les Malversations Economiques – OLUCOME (Observatory for the Fight Against Corruption and Economic Embezzlement ), as well as a massacre in the town of Gatumba in 2011.
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- 19 February 2015 : Provisional release of human rights defender Bob Rugurika
- 5 February 2015 : Court rules to maintain human rights defender Bob Rugurika in detention
- 23 January 2015 : Arbitrary arrest and detention of human rights defender and journalist Bob Rugurika
- 15 May 2012 : Human rights journalist Mr Bob Rugurika receives a series of threats and seeks protection from President Nkurunziza
On 19 February 2015, human rights defender Mr Bob Rugurika was finally released from Muramvya prison. The day before, a judge had accepted the human rights defender's appeal and ordered his conditional provisional release on a bond of 15 million Burundian Francs (approximately €8400). However, the prosecutor had refused to execute the decision that day, raising fears that the human rights defender would be held arbitrarily.
On 18 February 2015, after the lawyers of the human rights defender paid the bond, the prosecutor refused to execute the order, stating that he would release Bob Rugurika the following day. However, at approximately 7:00 pm, police accompanied by the municipal commissioner of Bujumbura allegedly came to the Muramvya prison to try to take Bob Rugurika by force, but he and his colleagues resisted. During this incident, hundreds of people had assembled outside the prison. They spent the night there in order to assure the liberation of the human rights defender. Bob Rugurika was released the next morning.
According to the conditions of his release, Bob Rugurika must present himself to the Instructing Magistrate on the first Monday of every month and is not allowed to leave Burundi without authorisation by the magistrate. The date of the first hearing has not yet been fixed.
Bob Rugurika has been in detention in the Muramvya prison since 22 January 2015, following the broadcast by RPA of a series of reports regarding the assassination of three nuns in September 2014, in which the presenters claimed to have received information revealing the involvement of the secret services. The human rights defender has been charged with “complicity in the killing,” “breach of confidentiality of prosecutorial investigations and of public solidarity”, and “concealing a criminal”.
On 4 February 2015, Council Chamber of the Court of First Instance (TGI) of Bujumbura decided in a public hearing to continue to hold human rights defender and journalist Mr Bob Rugurika in detention. According to the Court, the decision had the purported aim of “preserving the evidence and avoiding fraudulent consultation among the accused.” The human rights defender plans to appeal the decision.
Bob Rugurika had appeared before the Council Chamber on 2 February 2015. The Court had to decide on the lawfulness of his detention, and whether to extend the detention or order the human rights defender's release. The hearing took place in the Muramvya prison, where the human rights defender has been held since 22 January 2014.
Previously, during an investigative hearing by a judge of the TGI in the Muramvya prison on 30 January 2015, a fourth charge of “concealing a criminal” was brought against Bob Rugurika. The arrest of the human rights defender follows the broadcast by RPA of a series of reports regarding the assassination of three nuns, in which the presenters claimed to have received information revealing the involvement of the secret services.
On 27 January 2015, the Mayor of Bujumbura prohibited a peaceful march in protest at the unlawful arrest of the human rights defender, which Burundian journalists had planned to hold on 3 February 2015.
On 22 January 2015, human rights defender and journalist Mr Bob Rugurika was transferred to Muramvya Prison and reportedly placed in isolation. The transfer comes one day after he was arrested by the Burundian authorities and detained in Central Prison of Mpimba in Bujumbura. The charges against him are in connection with his reporting on the assassination of three Italian nuns in Bujumbura in September 2014.
No reason was provided for the transfer and detention in isolation of Bob Rugurika. In the morning of 20 January 2015, Bob Rugurika had appeared before the Public Prosecutor of Bujumbura in compliance with a summons. The summons was issued after the RPA began, a week earlier, to broadcast a series of reports regarding the assassination of three nuns, in which they claimed to have received information directly from the killers revealing the involvement of the secret services. The summons stated that the questioning aimed to obtain “clarification on the case concerning the Italian sisters and the presentation of one of the criminals to the prosecutor”.
During Bob Rugurika's appearance, which attracted a large crowd outside the court, the lawyers of the human rights defenders asked the prosecutor to explain whether Bob Rugurika was being summoned as Director of RPA or in his private capacity. The question led to the suspension of the interrogation for a period of more than one hour, but when the representative of the prosecutor returned, he resumed the interview without providing a response. At that stage, it was unclear whether the journalist would be charged under the law regulating the media, or under the Penal Code. At the end of the interrogation, the prosecutor specified the charges as “complicity in the killing, breach of confidentiality of prosecutorial investigations and of public solidarity.” In the afternoon, the journalist was driven by police car to the Central Prison of Mpimba in Bujumbura.
On 7 May 2012, prominent Burundian human rights journalist, Mr Bob Rugurika, sent a formal letter to President Nkurunziza, appealing for protection in the face of a number of serious threats reportedly received from police and officials from SNR.
In his letter, Bob Rugurika describes the threats received and states that he has become aware of a plan for his physical elimination. Bob Rugurika is the editor-in-chief of Radio Publique Africaine – RPA (African Public Radio), a private radio station in Burundi known for its strong focus on human rights issues.
Bob Rugurika states in his letter that he believes the threats issued against him to be directly related to RPA's recent investigation and reporting on new leads pertaining to the 2009 killing of anti-corruption activist Mr Ernest Manirumva, ex-vice president of the Observatoire de Lutte Contre la Corruption et les Malversations Economiques - OLUCOME (Observatory for the Fight Against Corruption and Economic Embezzlement Malversation). He also believes that the threats are in response to RPA's coverage of the 2011 massacre in the town of Gatumba. Bob Rugurika has been the subject of previous judicial harassment. Between July and November 2011, he was summoned to appear before the state prosecutor on nine occasions.
