Security agents in the Central African Republic (CAR) arrested on Friday Socrate Bozize, the son of former army chief of staff turned rebel leader Francois Bozize. The younger Bozize is being held at the national intelligence office in the capital, Bangui.
His maternal uncle, Macaire Ngbele, told IRIN on Saturday that six members of the Presidential Special Battalion made the arrest. Protesting this, hundreds of people in the Bangui suburb of Lakouanga erected barricades across the main avenue and burnt car tyres. Security forces later restored calm. There were no casualties reported.
The arrest was made a day after Minister of State Gabriel Koyambounou urged the country’s judicial commission investigating the 25 October 2002 coup attempt to extend its work to cover the entire nation. It is as yet unclear whether the arrest was a consequence of Koyambounou’s order.
"It is a judicial matter," Dominique Panguindji, the prosecutor of Bangui's Tribunal of First Instance, told IRIN on 22 February.
This article was produced by IRIN News while it was part of the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs. Please send queries on copyright or liability to the UN. For more information: https://shop.un.org/rights-permissions
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