The police presented to the media, this Thursday, June 2 in the premises of the National Intelligence Service (SNR), 6 alleged criminals. They are accused of having ordered, executed or participated in the assassination, on December 29, 2021 at the Porta Sion hotel in Mutanga-nord in the town hall of Bujumbura, of Eugénie Ntakarutimana, a lady of Burundian origin naturalized Belgian.
In front of the cameras, two alleged material perpetrators of the murder, Albert Nshimirimana and Fidel Ngendakumana, recounted how they set about killing and stealing the money from Eugénie Ntakarutimana on vacation in Burundi.
“A certain Dieudonné contacted me saying he had a job for me. He took me to the Porta Sion hotel and showed me the lady ,” says Albert Nshimirimana. According to him, he then recruited Fidel Ngendakumana.
“The day of the crime, one entered the lady’s room and the other was watching the target. We stole money and killed him. However, Albert Nshimirimana was not sure of the sum stolen: “ It was 400 euros and 200 dollars. No Burundian franc”.
And Pierre Nkurikiye, spokesperson for the Ministry in charge of Public Security will then ask Fidel to give more details: “There were 500,000 BIF, 5 100 euro notes, 17 50 euro notes and 12 20 euro notes. We also stole his passport which we burned afterwards”.
How did you kill him? “We didn’t kill him as such. She struggled and during the fight she fell and her head hit the cement. We took the money. We tied her up and gagged her so she can’t scream when she regains consciousness. We locked the room and left.
The thread of the story according to the police
According to Pierre Nkurikiye, door-keeper of the Ministry of Public Security, the victim arrived in Burundi on December 12, 2021 and took a room at Porta Sion for a month. “The sponsor of the murder is a certain Emmanuel Girukwishaka alias Jado. The latter took a room on December 13. He had a girlfriend who worked at the reception of this hotel. She showed him around the whole hotel and showed him the identities of the people who were staying in that hotel. This allowed the sponsor to plan the crime well”.
Initially, according to Mr. Nkurikiye, the alleged sponsor recruited 2 people. He gave them 50,000 BIF to commit the crime but they withdrew. One is among the 6 people arrested, another is on the run.
The doorman of the Ministry of Public Security indicates that Jado still looked for two other people including Albert Nshimirimana. “The shot missed because the target had returned very early than expected. Finally, Albert recruited Fidel. They have known each other since childhood. They were able to enter the lady’s room thanks to a key that Jado had given them.
According to the police, one of the alleged executors hid in the shower of the room and the other followed the movements of the victim. “When the watchman saw that the lady was taking leave of her friends, he too rushed to the victim’s room. When the latter entered the room, they threw themselves on her. After their package around 10 p.m., they locked the room. They gave the key to the watchman with a sum of 20,000 BIF and they vanished”.
Pierre Nkurikiye informs that these material perpetrators stole a sum of 1590€ and 500 thousand BIF as well as the victim’s passport which they burned afterwards.
According to the spokesperson for the Ministry of Public Security, 6 people were arrested in January and imprisoned in Mpimba prison. “After investigations, we discovered that only two people actually played a role in this crime. They are the receptionist and the watchman. The other 4 are not involved according to our investigations. We believe that justice will take this into account and release them”.
Pierre Nkurikiye wanted to congratulate the investigators. “Some had thought that they could even invite foreign investigators to investigate this crime”.
According to SN, a jurist, article 40 of the Constitution provides that everyone is presumed innocent until their guilt is established by a judgment that has become final. “Publicity can only be an additional penalty pronounced by a court which impartially analyzes the evidence presented by the prosecution. »
For him, it is not appropriate for the police to present people as convicts when they are still innocent under the law. “This approach influences the judges who can no longer analyze the case independently. Moreover, this advertisement seems to want to throw dust in the eyes of public opinion by making believe that impunity is being fought when this is not the case.
Source: IWACU Burundi