RUYIGI August 22nd (ABP) – The Burundian Minister of Justice, Mrs. Domine Banyankimbona, paid a visit to the central prison of Ruyigi on Thursday and proceeded to the release of 19 prisoners who have just completed a quarter of their sentences and who well behaved. She then proceeded to a session of moralization of magistrates, judges, officers of the public prosecutor’s office and clerks of all the courts working in the province of Ruyigi (eastern Burundi). She ended that field trip by visiting the re-education center for minors located in Rutimbura village in Ruyigi commune, where she also gave advice to young people in conflict with the law who are housed there.
That field trip, according to the communication team of the Ministry of Justice, is part of the agenda of the Minister of Justice to inquire about the daily life of prisoners and collect their grievances.
During the presentation of the prison situation in Ruyigi prison, the director of this institution, Mr. Eric Emerusabe said that it is a real pleasure to welcome the Minister of Justice to this prison whose capacity to reception is 300 people but which experiences a very considerable prison overcrowding with 869 prisoners. He also indicated that this prison built around 1948 is in considerable dilapidation, given that it is built of semi-durable materials. He therefore expressed his thanks to the minister and asked him to speed up the decongestion movement in this prison so that prison living conditions can improve in that prison.
During her welcoming speech, the Governor of Ruyigi, Mrs. Tabu Emmérenciene expressed her gratitude to the Minister of Justice for having chosen the province of Ruyigi and especially the prison of this province among the other prisons throughout the country. She said she was satisfied with this release while regretting that during the recent releases of prisoners, most of them did not return home and returned to prison after repeating the same offenses that were originally of their imprisonment.
She asked those who were about to be released to beware of recidivism and to return to their hills of origin and above all to avoid theft in households and join their brothers in development.
The Minister of Justice, in his speech, addressed advice to those 19 former prisoners who had just received their release tickets to return to their respective families and asked them to serve as a model, in the good behavior for the families and neighbors. To all the prisoners who are still serving their sentences, Minister Banyankimbona asked them to keep in mind that in all societies, the best way to avoid imprisonment is to respect the law.
The Minister of Justice offered gifts consisting of loincloths, soaps, women’s sanitary napkins and sugar to women landlords in Ruyigi prison. She then conducted a molarization session for the staff of the various jurisdictions working in this province and ended her visit to the Rutimbura minors’ rehabilitation center. It also granted a television set to the young people of the center of Rutimbura.