Burundi's highest court has ruled that a former president and six other alleged coup plotters are to remain in jail without facing formal charges.
The ruling from the Burundi High Court Tuesday in effect reversed the court's earlier decision to release the accused men on bail. That decision was challenged by public prosecutors.
An attorney for one of the suspects, former Vice President Alphonse Kadege, says he believes the government ordered the court to keep the men in prison.
Burundi authorities accuse former President Domitien Ndayizeye and six other people of plotting a coup against President Pierre Nkurunziza.
Critics say the government fabricated the allegations so it could arrest opposition politicians in the central African nation.
Burundi's government has come under increasing scrutiny over its record of democracy and freedom of expression following a spate of arrests of activists and journalists since May.
The country is struggling to emerge from a long civil war that killed more than 300,000 people.
