TheCable

Alfred Mugenzi, a Burundian comedian, who was arrested for mocking President Pierre Nkurunziza, was freed on Friday after spending four days in detention.

An intelligence source said Mugenzi, who is also known as Gigingi, was released provisionally and would have to return for questioning on April 30.

The source, who did not want to be named, did not give more details.

Mugenzi was advertising a beer brand in Muramvya in central Burundi when he was detained on Tuesday.

The 30-year-old was taken to the premises of the intelligence service in the capital Bujumbura, according to the intelligence source.

The source denied reports that the comedian had been tied up for the journey to the capital.

Mugenzi mocked Nkurunziza during a show in neighbouring Rwanda in June last year, joking the president had received two yellow cards in a football game but refused to leave the pitch.

A video of the show has now started circulating on social media, where it has become very popular.

Mugenzi’s joke was referring to Nkurunziza’s determination to seek a third term in office despite the constitutional two-term limit.

The president’s announcement of his plans and his subsequent election victory in July triggered a wave of protests, police repression and opposition attacks that have claimed more than 400 lives so far.

Mugenzi was held on charges of insulting the president, according to the intelligence source.

The arrest sparked concern that the comedian could be tortured or even killed, with his family calling on the authorities to acquit him because he was “an innocent person who only did his job”.