{{A Burundi court bailed on Thursday a key opposition leader arrested in a sex and bribery scandal his supporters claim was a set-up designed to block a challenge to the president.}}<\/p>\n
Frederic Bamvuginyumvira, a former Burundi vice-president and current deputy leader of the Front for Democracy (Frodebu) party was arrested in December “while having sex… in a house of ill repute”, a court official said.<\/p>\n
A bail order was initially made in December, but was then rejected at the request of the prosecution.<\/p>\n
However, on Thursday, bail was granted on health grounds and Bamvuginyumvira released, court officials said, so he could seek treatment for high blood pressure.<\/p>\n
“The anti-corruption court has just made an order for the provisional release my client Frederic Bamvuginyumvira on a bail of a million Burundian francs or \u20ac450,” his lawyer Fabien Segatwa said.<\/p>\n
“Mr Bamvuginyumvira has no reason to be in prison because he did not do anything,” he added, maintaining his incarceration was political.<\/p>\n
Bamvuginyumvira, a highly respected leader with a reputation for being tough on graft, was Burundi’s vice president from 1998 to 2001, and is touted as one of the most serious potential opposition presidential candidates for 2015 elections.<\/p>\n
The court decision comes amid growing tensions in the central African country, especially between Burundi’s Hutu and Tutsi communities, who are still struggling to reconcile after decades of conflict.<\/p>\n
The United Nations has called for restraint and dialogue ahead of the polls, in which President Pierre Nkurunziza is expected to campaign for a third term in office.<\/p>\n
Frodebu won the 1993 general elections, bringing to power the country’s first elected president Melchior Ndadaye.<\/p>\n
Ndadaye was assassinated a few months later, triggering a brutal civil war that ended in 2006.<\/p>\n
Like other opposition groups Frodebu boycotted legislative elections in 2010.<\/p>\n
– AFP<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
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