Jailed human rights defender denied treatment

Association

On 18^th June 2018, human rights defender Germain Rukuki, who has been in detention since his arrest on 13^th July 2017, was forcibly removed from a hospital by security officials one week after receiving surgery on his leg, before his full recovery.  He could not walk unassisted, and his foot was still bandaged. Although he applied for bail on 26th June in order to receive medical treatment and rehabilitation care in hospital, at the time of writing this update, his bail had not been issued.

As previously reported in the Monitor, in a move decried by civil society and UN experts, on 28^th April Rukuki was sentenced to 32 years in prison for his alleged involvement in a 2015 coup attempt.