A Burundian court has ordered the provisional release of journalist Sandra Muhoza, ending nearly two years of detention while she awaited the outcome of her appeal.
Muhoza, who worked with the online publication La Nova Burundi, was arrested in April 2024 in Ngozi after authorities accused her of sharing information in a journalists’ WhatsApp group alleging that government officials were distributing weapons to youth linked to the ruling party.
She was later transferred to Mpimba Central Prison in Bujumbura.
She was initially convicted on charges of “undermining the integrity of the national territory” and promoting “racial aversion,” and sentenced to two years in prison.
In January 2026, the Ngozi High Court imposed a harsher sentence of four years’ imprisonment, described as “principal penal servitude,” and fined her 60 euros on similar charges.
Muhoza’s lawyers filed an appeal, arguing that the accusations against her were unfounded, and petitioned the court to grant her provisional release while the appeal was ongoing.
Documents reviewed by the press freedom organisation Reporters Without Borders (RSF) indicate that the Prosecutor General at the Ngozi Court of Appeal authorised her release on March 4, 2026.
Her provisional release has been welcomed by media and human rights organisations that had campaigned for her freedom.
Media freedom in Burundi remains under significant strain, with journalists operating in an environment marked by fear, intimidation, and widespread self-censorship.
The situation has contributed to the country’s consistently low ranking in global press freedom indexes.
Although the government amended the 2018 media law in 2024 to reduce custodial sentences for certain press offences, journalists continue to face the risk of arbitrary arrests and restrictions when reporting on sensitive issues such as security, politics, and the economy.
The legal framework also retains provisions limiting the protection of confidential sources and prohibits reporting deemed harmful to national security or economic stability.
