Independent radio station closed as Burundi protests continue

BUJUMBURA

Authorities in Burundi arrested a leading political activist and shut down the main independent radio station on Monday as the death toll rose to six from demonstrations against a bid by President Pierre Nkurunziza to seek a controversial third term in office.

The army was deployed across the capital and was reported to be protecting peaceful protestors in some areas as unconfirmed reports emerged of unidentified death squads targeting and attacking protestors in their homes.

Security forces disrupted a meeting of journalists and shut down Africa Public Radio, an influential station which has been covering the protests.

"The radio (station) is off the air after a decision by the authorities," Gilbert Niyonkuru, the head of programming at RPA told AFP. Its broadcasts signals out of the capital into the countryside were also halted, with station officials saying they had been accused of "complicity and participation in an insurrectional movement."

"We are having a meeting with the national council for communication on why they are keeping on harassing us," RPA head Bob Rugurika, who recently spent a month in detention over a interviewee hosted by the radio, told the Nation in Bujumbura on Monday. "The closure of the radio (station) is illegal so (we) will see what we can do."

Authorities, led by the police inspector-general, early on Monday closed down a facility where three private radio stations were carrying out live broadcasts of the protests.

They also arrested Pierre-Claver Mbonimpa, a leading human rights and political activist and one of the leaders of the protests, who was being hosted on a radio show. His whereabouts were not clear by Monday evening but other political activists had reportedly gone into hiding amidst reports that warrants had been issued for their arrest.

"When they arrested him we were together and I don't know where he was taken, this is not acceptable. How can someone close the press house during this period when we are informing the public on ongoing situation on the ground?" asked Alexandre Niyungeko, the chairperson of the Burundi Journalist Union.

Mr Mbonimpa, the chairman of Burundian Association for the Protection of Human Rights and Detained Persons, was arrested last year on allegations of threatening the country's security. He was later released on bail due to poor health.

FIRED LIVE AMMUNATION

The demonstrations began on Sunday to over the decision, on Saturday, by the ruling CNDD-FDD party to nominate President Nkurunziza as its candidate for the June 26 elections.

Mr Nkurunziza, a former rebel leader, has already served two terms but his supporters say the first, in which he was elected by legislators and not universal adult suffrage, does not count.

Opposition parties, civil society groups and international actors, including the African Union and the United States government, have criticised Mr Nkurunziza's pursuit of a third term in office and warned that it goes against the country's constitution and the Arusha Agreement that ended a decade-long civil war.

Police fired live ammunition, tear gas and water cannons in different parts of Bujumbura in an attempt to keep protestors from marching from the suburbs into the city.

Police sources said "hundreds" of people had been arrested in the unrest. Burning car tyres littered many streets of the capital and the police fought running battles with protestors.

Explosions could be heard in the outskirts of Bujumbura as protests continued into the evening.

A private radio station, Bonesha FM, claimed during a news bulletin that members of the Imbonerakure youth wing of the ruling CNDD-FDD party had been given police uniforms to carry out attacks on anti-third term demonstrators.

The claims could not be independently verified and President Nkurunziza's spokesperson and the Defence Minister were not available for comment by Monday evening.

The AU and the UN have called for calm and respect for the rule of law in the country, although the East African Community is yet to publicly comment on the matter.

(EDITORIAL: EAC should defuse violence in Burundi)

Speaking after accepting his party nomination on Saturday, President Nkurunziza warned: "Whoever wants to create problems with the ruling party elected by the people, he'll find himself in trouble."

Additional reporting by Agencies