Rwandan police arrested Diane Shima Rwigara, a leading critic of President Paul Kagame, charging her with forgery and tax evasion.
Her mother and sister were also arrested on the tax charges.
Earlier this year, Rwigara had her nude photos leaked on the social media attracting public debate
As this was not enough, the electoral authorities barred Rwigara from standing in August’s presidential vote, which Kagame won, saying she had not submitted enough supporters’ signatures and some of the names she did sent in belonged to dead people.
Rwigara denied the allegations.
”They are accused of tax evasion and secondly Diane Rwigara is accused of using fake documents while she was gathering signatures for her presidential candidacy,” police spokesman Theos Badege told reporters.
Police said they had a warrant issued by a prosecutor to arrest them.
Rwigara, a 35-year-old accountant, has repeatedly accused Kagame of stifling dissent and criticised his Rwandan Patriotic Front’s near total hold on power. Kagame won last month’s election with 98.8 percent of the vote.
