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3 killed in protests over Burundi president's third-term bid

Xinhua, May 5, 2015 Adjust font size:

Three protesters were killed and 45 others injured in Burundi's Bujumbura, as protests against President Pierre Nkurunziza's decision to run for a third term, resumed on Monday after a two-day break, the Red Cross has said.

"Two protesters died on the spot while the third one died at a hospital after clashes in Musaga and Nyakabiga districts. 45 others were injured, the majority of them are in critical conditions," the Burundi Red Cross spokesman Alexis Manirakiza told Xinhua.

Among those injured were 30 protesters and 15 police officers, he said.

Police spokesman, Liboire Bakundukize, denied killing the protesters and said their officers were injured by a grenade thrown at them by protesters in Musaga.

Tyres were burnt and barricades mounted at the junction of major roads in Bujumbura, with shops, banks, pharmacies and restaurants remaining closed for most of the day.

The protest movement has spread not only across the capital but to other provinces, like Mwaro and Bururi, according to local reports.

There has been a rise in protests since April 26 - one day after the ruling CNDD-FDD nominated Nkurunziza as its candidate for the June presidential election.

The opposition says Nkurunziza's re-election bid violates the constitution which only allow the president to be elected to two terms in office.

However, the president's supporters say his first term doesn't count as he was appointed by parliament in 2005 after the civil war ended, not elected by the people.

Clashes so far have left at least 12 people -11 protesters and one soldier- died, 52 other protesters and 53 police officers injured, said Pierre-Claver Mbonimpa, a veteran human rights campaigner whose civil society group joined in calling the demonstrations.

Protest organizer Me Vital Nshimirimana on Monday said that "as long as Nkurunziza doesn't renounce his third-term bid, the protests will continue."

Burundi's constitutional court has ruled that Nkurunziza is eligible to stand for a third term, striking fears of a further escalation in the riots. Endi