Burundi: RSF condemns the 21-month-long prison sentence handed down to journalist Sandra Muhoza
The verdict in Sandra Muhoza's trial was delivered on 16 December. Detained since 13 April, the journalist was sentenced to one year and nine months in prison. Reporters Without Borders (RSF) condemns this heavy-handed, political decision and calls on the Burundian justice system to repeal the verdict.
Burundi’s judiciary has sentenced the second woman journalist to be convicted on spurious charges in the country in the past two years. The ruling against Sandra Muhoza, a journalist for the online media La Nova Burundi, to one year and nine months in prison — 18 months for “attacking the integrity of national territory” and three months for “racial aversion” — highlights the Burundian authorities' stubborn, indiscriminate repression of press freedom.
Sandra Muhoza's lawyer, Prosper Niyoyankana, described the sentence as “unreasonable and motivated by a clear desire to silence anyone who disagrees with the regime. We will appeal against this decision.”
Detained since April 2024, the journalist had shared information about the government’s distribution of arms in a private WhatsApp for media professionals.
Sandra Muhoza's heavy sentence is the authorities’ latest extreme measure against journalists as the country heads into legislative and communal elections. There’s little doubt of the political nature of this verdict, given that the journalist is being prosecuted due to information that implicates the ruling party. RSF firmly condemns this politically-motivated decision and calls on the judicial authorities to immediately release journalist Sandra Muhoza.
Initially scheduled for September 2024, the opening of Sandra Muhoza's trial was postponed until November due to a lack of fuel to transport detainees from the Mpimba Central Prison in Bujumbura, the country's capital, to court. Exactly one month ago, the prosecution had requested a 12-year prison sentence for the journalist, including ten years for "undermining the integrity of the national territory" and two years for "racial aversion".
Sandra Muhoza is the second woman journalist convicted in less than two years in Burundi. Host of Igicaniro radio Floriane Irangabiye, prosecuted for "undermining the internal security of the national territory", was condemned to a 10-year prison sentence in January 2023. After more than 700 days in detention, she was finally granted a presidential pardon in August 2024.
