Rwandan opposition politician strangled, body dumped in forest
An undated picture of the late Anselme Mutuyimana. PHOTO | COURTESY
What you need to know:
- It was not immediately clear how 30-year-old Anselme Mutuyimana died but Rwandan authorities said they were investigating.
- However, a press statement by the United Democratic Forces party said he was strangled and his body found dumped in a forest
The spokesman for leading Rwandan opposition politician Victoire Ingabire was found dead on Sunday, the Rwanda Investigation Bureau has reported.
It was not immediately clear how 30-year-old Anselme Mutuyimana died but Rwandan authorities said they were investigating.
"The investigation has started. No suspects so far," said Modeste Mbabazi, spokesman of the Rwanda Investigation Bureau.
Ms Ingabire is one of the main opposition figures in the country and the President of the United Democratic Forces party. For her, there is no doubt it is a political assassination.
STRANGULATION
Mr Mutuyimana's elder brother, Augustin Tubanambazi, reportedly said the body had no visible wounds but that there was blood in the mouth.
However, a press statement by the United Democratic Forces party said the victim was strangled and the body found dumped in a forest.
“There is a strong suspicion that he was waylaid by criminals who killed and dumped him in the forest. According to those who saw the body, he died of strangulation, a technique of killing that has become common in Rwanda and in the murders of Rwandan dissidents abroad,” the statement said.
IMPRISONED
Ms Ingabire returned from The Netherlands to contest a presidential election in 2010 and once served six years of a 15-year jail sentence for inciting insurrection.
In January 2014, Mr Mutuyimana was convicted and sentenced to six years in prison.
He was released from Mpanga Prison in 2018, the same year that Ms Ingabire, the FDU-Inkingi party leader, was pardoned.
