RSF - Reporters sans frontières
RSF - Reporters sans frontières
12/03/2025 | Press release | Distributed by Public on 12/04/2025 08:04
Burundian judiciary insists on keeping Sandra Muhoza in detention
On 1 December, the Court of Appeal of Ngozi, in northern Burundi, rejected the request for Sandra Muhoza's release, thereby upholding the decision of the first instance court. Reporters Without Borders (RSF) condemns the intransigence of the Burundian judiciary and continues to call for the immediate release of Sandra Muhoza, a journalist from the online media outlet La Nova Burundi.
Like the courts in Bujumbura before them, the Ngozi courts insist on keeping Sandra Muhozabehind bars. Six weeks earlier, on 14 October, the city's court of first instance rejectedthe request for provisional release submitted by the journalist's defence team. The date of the next hearing has not yet been announced.
For now, the only glimmer of hope is that the journalist's health has improved in recent weeks, according to her family. Sandra Muhoza appeared on crutches during her transfer from Mpimba prison to Ngozi prison on 26 September, and again during the hearing on 14 October.
"Sandra Muhoza is a journalist who is being particularly targeted in Burundi. She was arbitrarily arrested and unjustly convicted. Worse still, four requests for provisional release have been rejected since her detention began n April 2024. This demonstrates how determined the judicial authorities are to keep the journalist detained in tough conditions, despite abusive charges and a muddled legal procedure. RSF deplores this unjustified decision and continues to call for her immediate release.
Sadibou Marong
Director, RSF Sub-Saharan Africa
In December 2024, Sandra Muhoza was sentencedto 21 months in prison by a Bujumbura Court of First Instance. 18 months for "undermining the integrity of the national territory" and three months for "racial aversion". This conviction is now void, given that the Mukaza Court of Appeal ruled on 13 June that the Bujumbura courts lackedthe necessary territorial jurisdiction to hear the case, unlike those in Ngozi.
In March 2025, RSF referredthe case to the Special Rapporteur on Freedom of Expression and Access to Information in Africa, of the African Commission on Human and Peoples' Rights (ACHPR), to highlight the arbitrary nature of the journalist's detention.
Published on03.12.2025
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