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10/17/2025 | Press release | Archived content

Burundian court’s refusal to free journalist is grossly unjust, RSF says

Reporters Without Borders (RSF) condemns a Burundian court's grossly unjust refusal to release Sandra Muhoza, a journalist who has been held for nearly a year and a half simply for sharing information in a WhatsApp group and who remains in prison despite flaws in the proceedings against her and despite declining health. The authorities must end her arbitrary detention and let her receive appropriate medical care without delay, RSF says.

The request for the release of Sandra Muhoza, a reporter for the online media outlet La Nova Burundi, was rejected on 14 October by a high court in the northern city of Ngozi. Held since April 2024, Sandra Muhoza is facing legal proceedings for "racial aversion" and "undermining the integrity of the national territory" for sharing information in a WhatsApp group about alleged arms distribution by the government.

The release request was submitted on 7 October by her lawyers, who say they will appeal against the Ngozi court's decision. She meanwhile remains in detention, pending a hearing on the merits of the case for which a date has not been set.

At the hearing on 7 October, her defence lawyers identified several irregularities in the proceedings against her, including the fact that the arrest warrant issued on 18 April 2024 by the Bujumbura prosecutor was "initially valid for 30 days" and was rendered null and void by the decision of an appeals court in the Bujumbura district of Mukaza, which declared itself territorially incompetentto rule on the case on 13 June. The public prosecutor meanwhile maintains the charges against her.

Sandra Muhoza was visibly in very poor shape when she was transferred to Ngozi women's prison on 26 September and she had to use a crutch to enter the courtroom for the hearing on 14 October. According to medical documents seen by RSF, including a scan in early September, she is suffering from an "incipient disc hernia."

"Sandra Muhoza has already spent nearly a year and a half in prison on trumped-up charges and flawed proceedings, and her health has deteriorated. But the Burundian justice system persists in its refusal to release this journalist. The Ngozi high court had the opportunity to put an end to this judicial farce, but it decided not to use it, and that is a disgrace for the justice system. We call on the authorities to allow her to receive appropriate care and to release her at once."

Sadibou Marong
Director, RSF Sub-Saharan Africa

The 21-month prison sentencepassed by the Bujumbura court lower court in December - consisting of 18 months for "undermining the integrity of the national territory" and three months for "racial aversion" - became void after the Mukaza appeal court ruled in June that Bujumbura's courts were territorially incompetent to try the case, unlike Ngozi's courts.

In March 2025, Reporters Without Borders (RSF) referredSandra Muhoza's arbitrary detention to the Special Rapporteur on Freedom of Expression and Access to Information at the African Commission on Human and Peoples' Rights (ACHPR).

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Publié le17.10.2025
  • Afrique
  • Burundi
  • Cadre légal et justice
  • Détentions et procédures arbitraires
  • Actualité
  • Femmes
  • Politique
  • Détention arbitraire
  • Emprisonnement
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