A/HRC/17/50 prohibiting them from forming political coalitions outside the electoral period. According to the members of ADC-Ikibiri, the particular concern of the authorities in place is to prevent that coalition from operating so as to eliminate any form of serious opposition. Numerous activists and leaders of the coalition in possession of official documents of the coalition are reported to have been arrested and imprisoned. For example, the aforementioned memorandum refers to members of the ADC-Ikibiri coalition who were arrested, detained and brutalized by security forces on 9 June 2007 as they were on their way to Rumonge to organize a meeting. It would appear that the security forces have received clear instructions from the Government to prevent any political meeting of that coalition during the electoral period. The independent expert met members of that coalition in Mpimba prison in Bujumbura; they told him that they had not been brought before a judge to confirm or quash the detention measure, as required by the Code of Criminal Procedure of Burundi. 51. During his visit to Mpimba prison, the independent expert also met Jean Claude Kavumbagu, journalist and director of the agency Net Press. He had been arrested at his office on 17 July 2010 by the inspector of police of the western region under an arrest warrant delivered by the prosecutor at the court of first instance in Bujumbura Mairie. Mr. Kavumbagu stated that he had been brought before a magistrate for questioning. He had been arrested for having published an article, on 12 July 2010, criticizing the Burundian security forces and calling into question their ability to defend the country against any attack from the El Shabab group. The article had been written in the wake of the attacks carried out on 11 July 2010 in Kampala, Uganda, and the threats brandished against Burundi by that group of Somalian insurgents owing to the presence of Burundian troops within the African Union Mission in Somalia (AMISOM). 52. After two hours of interrogation, without his lawyer being present, Mr. Kavumbagu was officially charged with treason and immediately transferred to Mpimba prison. He was so charged under article 570 (2) of the Burundian Criminal Code, which prohibits any Burundian "in time of war [from participating] knowingly in an attempt to demoralize the Army or the Nation with the object of impairing national defence". Treason is punishable by life imprisonment. However, the competent authorities had not explicitly declared that Burundi was at war, which would warrant the charge of treason as defined in the Criminal Code. It follows that pretrial detention was ordered by an examining magistrate without any legal basis. Under the terms of article 71 of the Code of Criminal Procedure, pretrial detention can be ordered on the sole condition that it is the only way of preserving evidence, maintaining public order, protecting the accused person, putting an end to the offence or preventing its recurrence, or ensuring that the accused person remains at the disposal of the courts. 53. Accompanied by his lawyer, Mr. Kavumbagu appeared for the second time before the Prosecutor-General, who again questioned him about the charges against him. His lawyer took the opportunity to request that his client be released on bail. The ProsecutorGeneral promised to respond to that request within the next 48 hours, but instead, he transferred the case to a judge who confirmed the detention measure. Mr. Kavumbagu appealed against that decision to the Bujumbura court of appeal, which confirmed it in a decision dated 9 November 2010. 54. During his meeting with the Minister of Justice and the Prosecutor-General at the Supreme Court, the independent expert expressed concern about the situation of Mr. Kavumbuga. He considered that the continued detention of the journalist was not necessary in the circumstances and asked for him to be brought to trial as speedily as possible. His interlocutors assured him that the trial was imminent. The independent expert notes to his regret, however, that at the time of writing this report, the judicial authorities have still not set a date for the trial. 14 GE.11-13751 (EXT)