Event Summary
On 13 January 2026, the Ngozi High Court sentenced Sandra Muhoza to four years in prison and a fine of 200,000 Burundian francs. Since April 2024, the Sandra Muhoza case has been a prime example of a worrying trend in Burundi: the increasing use of criminal law to restrict freedom of expression and discourage independent journalism. The journalist is being prosecuted on charges related to national security, in a context marked by procedural irregularities, repeated postponements of hearings and a contested extension of her pre-trial detention.
Sandra Muhoza, a journalist for the online media outlet La Nova Burundi, was arrested on 13 April 2024 in Ngozi province as she was preparing to conduct an interview. She was transferred to the National Intelligence Service in Bujumbura and then imprisoned at Mpimba Central Prison. The authorities brought charges of “undermining the integrity of the national territory” and “racial hatred” based on a message shared in a professional WhatsApp group for journalists. According to human rights organisations, this message was part of an internal journalistic exchange and did not constitute incitement to hatred or a call for violence. In December 2024, the Mukaza High Court sentenced her to more than twenty months in prison, before the Court of Appeal overturned the ruling on the grounds of lack of territorial jurisdiction. Despite this overturning, the journalist remained in detention, while the proceedings were reopened in Ngozi, with numerous postponements of the hearing until 13 January 2026.
Sandra Muhoza was released on bail on 4 March 2026, after a period of detention. Although this release is an important development, it does not end the legal proceedings against her. Indeed, according to the provisional release order issued by the prosecutor general at the Ngozi Court of Appeal, one of the conditions related to release is that of appearing once a month before the investigating magistrate as soon as it is required.