The former prime minister of Burundi, Alain Guillaume, has been arrested days after the government declared he had gone missing, the country's Justice Ministry said in a statement on Sunday.
"Alain Guillaume Bunyoni is currently in the hands of the police," read the statement signed by General Prosecutor Sylvestre Nyandwi.
According to the ministry, Bunyoni was detained in Burundi's capital Bujumbura on Friday. However, there was no detailed information on the reason for his arrest, as well as on where he was being held and what charges he would face.
The country's human rights commission stated that its representatives had visited the former official in detention, saying that he hadn't been subjected to any abuse.
"He is doing well. He has not suffered any act of torture or any other abuse since his arrest. His family has been notified. The process is following its normal course," the organization said in a statement.
Earlier this week, Burundi authorities launched an official search for the former prime minister on the back of reports that he had left his home in Bujumbura under threat of arrest. According to media reports, Bunyoni disappeared without a trace following an advance warning from one of police officers of his impending detention.
However, Interior Affairs Minister Martin Niteretse stated that prosecutors only intended to ask him several questions over "some suspicious cases."
Last September, Bunyoni was dismissed from his position amid reports of an alleged coup plot against President Evariste Ndayishimiye’s government. Under the previous administration of President Pierre Nkurunziza, who died in office in 2020, Bunyoni served as Internal Security Minister.