Burundi
An official of the Burundian opposition party Union for Peace and Development (UPD) was abducted on Tuesday while walking with his wife in the capital Bujumbura.
According to his wife Liberty Nzitonda, the 54-year-old UPD treasurer Leopold Habarugira was picked up in the evening by four men including one uniformed police officer armed with a rifle who took him into a vehicle, AFP reports.
“I am afraid because I know that people have been kidnapped in this country and their bodies are found later, or never,” she said. The UPD President Chauvineau Mugwengezo who is in exile said the abduction of Habarugira “corresponds to the methods of the SNR (National Intelligence Service)”.
The police could not be reached by the AFP on Tuesday.
Leopold Habarugira is a businessman and one of the few opposition members still in Burundi despite attacks.
His wife said he escaped an attempted assassination in 2016.
The former president and spokesman of the UPD was murdered in 2015.
Burundi faces political tensions between the government and opposition who are facing forced disappearance and torture, while many have been forced into exile.
01:04
Turkish democracy under pressure: Erdogan's top rival sentenced to two years in prison.
02:23
Cameroon: Mixed reactions in Yaoundé after Biya announces bid for another term
Go to video
Togo protest crackdown raises fears of worsening political crisis
Go to video
Tunisia sentences prominent opposition leader to 14 years in prison
02:37
Amnesty International denounces lack of investigation into activists' abduction
01:01
Chad’s former Prime Minister appeals to Macron after two months in detention