Kampala — Burundi prosecutors requested a 12-year prison sentence for journalist Sandra Muhoza, who has been detained for seven months on charges of undermining the integrity of Burundi's national territory and inciting ethnic hatred.

The charges against Muhoza, a reporter for the privately owned online newspaper La Nova Burundi, are connected to messages she sent in a journalists' WhatsApp group discussing the alleged distribution of machetes in parts of the country. A verdict in her case is expected in December 2024.

"It is deeply unjust that Sandra Muhoza faces over a decade in prison for comments she made in a WhatsApp group. Unfortunately, her case is in keeping with Burundi's history of using baseless anti-state charges to imprison journalists," said CPJ Africa Program Coordinator Muthoki Mumo. "Burundian authorities must unconditionally release Sandra Muhoza and desist from criminalizing the mere act of being a journalist."

Intelligence personnel arrested Muhoza on April 13 in the northern Ngozi province while meeting a businessman affiliated with the ruling party for an interview, according to two people familiar with her case who spoke to CPJ on the condition of anonymity, citing fear of retaliation. She is currently detained at a prison in the country's capital, Bujumbura.

CPJ's emails to Burundi's Ministry of Justice and app messages to Domine Banyankimbona, the Minister of Justice; Pierre Nkurikiye, the spokesperson for the Interior Ministry; Agnès Bagiricenge, the spokesperson for the Prosecutor General's Office; and Jérôme Niyonzima, the government spokesperson, did not receive a reply.

In 2020, authorities sentenced four journalists with the independent media outlet Iwacu to 2½ years in prison on charges of undermining national security, and in 2023, sentenced online journalist Floriane Irangabiye to 10 years in prison on charges of undermining the integrity of the national territory. The journalists were released early following presidential pardons.