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Rwandan Opposition Leader Demands Inquiry Into Spokesman's Death

Rwandan Opposition Leader Demands Inquiry Into Spokesman's Death

(Bloomberg) -- Rwandan opposition leader Victoire Ingabire asked the authorities to investigate the death of a spokesman for her United Democratic Forces party.

Anselme Mutuyimana’s body was discovered in Gishwati Forest in the northwest of the country, Ingabire said Tuesday by phone. Mutuyimana had traveled to the region to visit his parents, she said.

The UDF asked the state Rwanda Investigations Bureau to investigate, Ingabire said.

The bureau hasn’t determined the cause of death yet, spokesman Modest Mutabazi said by phone from Kigali, Rwanda’s capital. “Investigations are ongoing,” he said.

Rwanda has been repeatedly accused by human-rights groups of cracking down on political opponents and the media under President Paul Kagame’s rule. Ingabire, a one-time presidential candidate, was jailed for 15 years in 2013 for conspiring against the government, before being pardoned last year.

To contact the reporter on this story: Saul Butera in Kigali at sbutera2@bloomberg.net

To contact the editors responsible for this story: Antony Sguazzin at asguazzin@bloomberg.net, David Malingha, Paul Richardson

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