Off the wire
• Syrian army recaptures IS-held hospital in Deir al-Zour  • Mortar shell targets Syria's national TV HQ in Aleppo  • Iran vows to stand by Syria in face of threats  • Wartime bomb defused in British city Bath  • China voices strong dissatisfaction over U.S. report on Chinese military  • Interview: Three new Earth-like planets could sustain life: Belgian scientists  • 2 journalists shot dead in 24 hours in India  • Nepal completes laying optical fiber to Nepal-China border  • China Focus: Taiwanese fraud suspects deported from Malaysia confess  • Laos expects Saysettha Development Zone to become industrial zone model  
You are here: 　 Home

Burundi's ruling party suggests May 13 being dedicated to defense forces at failed coup plot anniversary

Xinhua, May 15, 2016 Adjust font size:

The Burundian ruling party Friday suggested that May 13 be dedicated to defense and security forces for foiling the coup plot on May 13, 2015, the ruling party said in a statement.

"Referring to the conduct of the defense and security forces in foiling the coup plot, the ruling party expresses its heartfelt gratitude for preserving the country's independence and the national unity," said Daniel Gelase Ndabirabe, spokesman of the Burundian ruling party, the National Council for the Defense of Democracy-Forces for the Defense of Democracy (CNDD-FDD) in the statement.

"The party consequently asks the government to take into consideration that May 13 would be a national day dedicated to defense and security forces in Burundi," the statement continued.

The CNDD-FDD also requested sanctions to "perpetrators" of the failed coup plot that also caused "human losses and damages" on infrastructures.

The party took an opportunity to rehabilitate some party members who had been suspended, for six or 12 months, following misbehavior linked to the controversial third term bid of Burundian President Pierre Nkurunziza.

In the aftermath of the failed coup plot, five private radio stations were burned while several other infrastructures were destroyed.

Burundi is facing a political turmoil that broke out since April 2015 following the announcement by Burundian President Pierre Nkurunziza that he would be seeking a third term.

His candidature, which was opposed by the opposition and civil society groups, resulted into a wave of protests, violence and even a failed coup on May 13, 2015.

Earlier this week, 21 out of the 28 suspects in the failed coup plot were sentenced to a life jail while five others were sentenced to two years in jail.

During the trial that took place in Gitega town, 102 km east of the Burundian capital Bujumbura, the Supreme Court acquitted two suspects.

The coup leader, Major General Godefroid Niyombare is however still at large.

Over 451 persons are reported to have been killed since then while some 270,000 citizens sought exile in neighboring countries. Endit