Activist gets 32-year term for protesting

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Burundian activist was sentenced on Thursday to 32 years in prison for taking part in protests against President Pierre Nkurunziza, sources said, a punishment rights groups said was “eminently political”. Germain Rukuki was given “32 years of penal servitude” at Bujumbura’s district court, a civil society member who was at the hearing said on condition of anonymity, adding that neither Rukuki, who is in detention, nor his lawyers were present. Burundian authorities use the term ‘insurrectional movement’ to describe the unrest. (AFP)