Prosecutors in Burundi have called for ousted Prime Minister Alain-Guillaume Bunyoni to be sentenced to life in prison on charges including threatening the life of the president, a judicial source and witnesses said.
Bunyoni has been on trial since September before the Supreme Court, sitting in session at the prison in the political capital Gitega where he is being held in custody.
He was prime minister from mid-2020 until September 2022 when he was fired in a high-level political purge, days after President Evariste Ndayishimiye had warned of a "coup" plot against him.
Bunyoni, who appeared in the dock on Thursday with six co-defendants, has pleaded not guilty to the charges against him and said he should be acquitted and released because of a lack of evidence.
'Attempt to topple government'
The army general is accused of using witchcraft to threaten the life of the head of state, undermining national security, attempting to topple government institutions, destabilising the economy and illegal enrichment, among other charges.
"For all these reasons, I request that Alain-Guillaume Bunyoni be punished with a sentence of penal servitude for life," prosecutor Jean-Bos co Bucumi said.
He also called for him to pay a fine of 7.1 million Burundian francs (around $2,500) and "damages equivalent to twice the value of the 153 houses and plots of land and the 43 vehicles belonging to him."
The prosecution also requested a 30-year prison sentence against the six others in the dock, including the two main co-defendants, a police colonel and a senior intelligence agent.
Influential figure
The presiding judge said a verdict would be issued within 30 days.
A former police chief and minister of internal security, Bunyoni was seen as the head of a cabal of military leaders known as "the generals" who wielded the true political power in Burundi.
A close ally of former president Pierre Nkurunziza, Bunyoni was an influential senior figure in the ruling CNDD-FDD party.
