Burundi Journalist Serving Four Year Sentence Granted Parole
Last update: March 4, 2026
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Reporter’s release follows conviction over WhatsApp messages and months in detention.
A Burundian journalist detained since April 2024 and sentenced in January to four years in prison was released on parole on Wednesday, according to one of her lawyers.
Sandra Muhoza, who works for the online outlet La Nova Burundi, appeared in December before a court in the northern town of Ngozi. She was sentenced to four years for undermining the territorial integrity of the nation and inciting racial hatred, her lawyer said at the time.
Muhoza appeared in court visibly weakened and using a crutch. A relative said she was suffering from a herniated disc.
The Ngozi prosecutor’s office authorised her provisional release in a written order dated February 27.
The decision took effect on Wednesday afternoon, according to her relatives, a judicial source and one of her lawyers.
Report says following her release, Muhoza returned home.
According to media watchdog Reporters Without Borders, Muhoza was convicted for sharing information in a private WhatsApp group about alleged arms distribution by the government.
Reporters Without Borders described the case as evidence that authorities continue to treat journalism as a crime, noting that Muhoza was the only woman journalist arbitrarily detained in sub Saharan Africa.
She had previously been sentenced to one year and nine months by a court in Bujumbura in late 2024, but that ruling was overturned on appeal in May last year and the case was transferred to Ngozi.
CBI News reports that Burundi ranks 125th out of 180 countries in the latest press freedom index published by Reporters Without Borders.
