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CRIME

Burundi court jails Frenchman 25 years for rape

A court in Burundi on Monday found a Frenchman guilty of raping five teenagers, giving him a 25-year jail sentence and a fine of €14,000 ($20,000).

Published: 26 July 2011 13:36 CEST

Patrice Faye, 58, was accused of raping five girls aged 13 to 17 — students at a school he set up for poor children. He denied the charges.

Supreme Court spokesman Elie Ntungwanayo said Faye, a long-time resident, could appeal the sentence.

The trial had been held behind closed doors since June 16. Prosecutors had sought a 35-year prison term.

Faye was arrested in early April and was detained in a prison in central Bujumbura following accusations by the girls.

In a letter addressed to AFP in May, Faye said a doctor had confirmed that three of his accusers were still virgins.

“My client is very shocked. This is someone who has spent 35 years of his life in Burundi doing good things and he is being convicted because of young girls who want to extort money,” his lawyer Fabien Segatwa said.

“Patrice Faye did nothing. He still maintains his innocence,” said the lawyer, adding: “It is a death sentence given his age.”

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POLITICS

France to set up national prosecutor’s office for combatting organised crime

The French Minister of Justice wants to create a national prosecutor's office dedicated to fighting organised crime and plans to offer reduced sentences for "repentant" drug traffickers.

Published: 28 April 2024 13:02 CEST
France to set up national prosecutor's office for combatting organised crime

Speaking to French Sunday newspaper Tribune Dimanche, Eric Dupond-Moretti said he also intends to offer “repentant” drug traffickers a change of identify.

This new public prosecutor’s office – PNACO – “will strengthen our judicial arsenal to better fight against crime at the high end of the spectrum,” Dupond-Moretti explained.

Former head of the national anti-terrorism prosecutor’s office Jean-François Ricard, appointed a few days ago as special advisor to the minister, will be responsible for consultations to shape the reform, the details of which will be presented in October, Dupond-Moretti said.

Inspired by the pentiti (repent) law in force in Italy, which is used to fight mafia crime, Dupond-Moretti also announced that he would create a “genuine statute” that rewards repentance.

“Legislation [in France] already exists in this area, but it is far too restrictive and therefore not very effective,” Dupond-Moretti explained.

In future, a judge will be able to grant special status to a repentant criminal who has “collaborated with justice” and “made sincere, complete and decisive statements to dismantle criminal networks”.

The sentence incurred by the person concerned would be reduced and, for their protection, they would be offered, “an official and definitive change of civil status”, a “totally new” measure, the minister said.

The Minister of Justice is also proposing that, in future, special assize courts, composed solely of professional magistrates, be entrusted not only with organised drug trafficking, as is already the case today, but also with settling scores between traffickers.

This will avoid pressure and threats on the citizen jurors who have to judge these killings, he said.

Finally, the minister plans to create a crime of “organised criminal association” in the French penal code. This will be punishable by 20 years of imprisonment.

Currently, those who import “cocaine from Colombia” risk half that sentence for “criminal association”, he said.

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