Burundi prosectors present recording in coup trial
Source: Reuters
BUJUMBURA, Dec 20 (Reuters) - Burundi prosecutors presented a tape in court on Wednesday which they said was a recorded conversation between a suspected coup plotter and an army officer discussing how to overthrow the government. The evidence in the high-profile treason trial of seven defendants, including former President Domitien Ndayizeye, was immediately rejected by the defence as fraudulent. Prosecutor Gaudence Ndayizeye said suspected coup mastermind Alain Mugabarabona, was heard in the tape giving orders to army officer Jean-Pasteur Rudadi about how to attack strategic locations and eliminate government officials. Mugabarabona denied holding any telephone conversation with Rudadi, saying the recording was fabricated by intelligence agents. "I remembered some of the words in the tape. It is just questions and answers I was forced to repeat during my interrogation at intelligence services headquarters," he said. "I am asking myself how I could lead a coup d'etat by telephone. This is meaningless." Police arrested former President Ndayizeye and six other people in August saying they had strong evidence they were plotting to kill President Pierre Nkurunziza and planned to overthrow the government. Critics say the alleged plot was invented by the ruling party to quash dissent, but the government and prosecutors deny this allegation, saying they have strong evidence of the plot. Rudadi, who testified for the prosecution, said the recorded conversation took place on June 30, the date the coup was supposed to be executed. Prosecutor Ndayizeye said the conversation was recorded by intelligence services on July 7, 2006. Defence lawyers noted contradictions between what the prosecutor and his witness said and asked the court not to consider the tape as evidence. The trial is winding down with the last defence pleas expected to be heard on Friday. Last week Burundi's defence minister, Major-General Germain Niyoyankana, broke ranks with the government to deny the existence of a coup plot. Burundi is emerging from more than a decade of ethnic civil war, but the coup plot over which President Pierre Nkurunziza's government has come under Western criticism has marred the tiny central African country's transition to peace.
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