Rwandan singer Bruce Melodie arrested in Burundi for fraud
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The African artist, founder of the Igitangaza Music record label, is the subject of a complaint for embezzlement following the cancellation of concerts a few years ago, according to Burundian media.
Rwandan singer Bruce Melodie was arrested on Wednesday August 31 in Burundi, where he had just arrived to give concerts, and placed in custody for fraud, the Burundian Interior Ministry announced on Thursday.
“Bruce Melodie is in custody, under investigation for fraud“, announced in a tweet early Thursday morning the Burundian Ministry of the Interior and Public Security, without further details.
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According to witnesses interviewed by AFP, the car carrying Itahiwacu Bruce – better known by his stage name Bruce Melodie – from the airport in the economic capital Bujumbura, where he had just landed, was intercepted by several men in police uniform and plainclothes around 5 p.m. local time (3 p.m. GMT). Extracted from the vehicle, the artist was handcuffed and then taken to the general police station in Bujumbura.
Concerts canceled
The news of the arrest of the Rwandan star, who was to give two concerts in Bujumbura on Thursday and Friday, made the rounds on social networks, where several Burundian singers expressed their indignation. Bruce Melodie is the subject of a complaint for fraud following the cancellation of concerts a few years ago, according to Burundian media and relatives of the artist.
Concerts scheduled for 2018 and 2021 had been canceled at the last minute by the Burundian Ministry of the Interior and Public Security, the first time in the context of diplomatic tensions between the two countries and the second time due to Covid- 19.
“One of these promoters, Toussaint Niyukuri, filed a complaint with the police and demands that the Rwandan singer reimburse him a deposit of 2,000 dollars which he had paid to him at the time, as well as a sum which rose from 30 million to 60 million Burundian francs (15,000 to 60,000 euros) which represent, according to him, all the costs incurred before the cancellation of these concerts“, explained to AFP one of the relatives of Bruce Melodie, on condition of anonymity. “Bruce Mélodie is ready to pay some of this money, even if he believes it was a case of force majeure, on condition that we agree to release him“, he concluded.
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