Journalist Faces Life in Prison for Exposing Alleged Corruption in Burundi: Urgent Call for Press Freedom

Sandra Muhoza, a Burundian journalist, faces charges of endangering internal security, a crime carrying a potential life sentence. She was apprehended by the National Intelligence Service in Bujumbura and moved to the infamous Mpimba prison.

These allegations stem from Muhoza’s remarks in a WhatsApp group discussing the purported distribution of machetes to Imbonerakure, members of the ruling CNDD-FDD party’s youth wing.

Security services have accused the secret services of subjecting her to physical abuse during interrogations. Muhoza reportedly endured being blindfolded, handcuffed, physically assaulted, and provided only one meal of rice and beans daily.

This incident is not the first targeting journalists in Burundi, a nation grappling with deep poverty and a dismal track record on press freedom and human rights.

A coalition of organizations representing Burundian journalists is advocating for Muhoza’s release and urging fellow journalists to stand in solidarity.

Reporters Without Borders (RSF), a global press freedom organization, has expressed apprehension over her arrest and detention, highlighting Burundi’s troubling press freedom situation. In a similar case in 2023, journalist Floriane Irangabiye was sentenced to 10 years in prison for “undermining the integrity of the national territory”.