The repeated postponement of Sandra Muhoza's appeal hearing underscores the ongoing injustice and unwarranted delays in her case.
This statement was originally published on rsf.org on 11 March 2025.
As the appeal hearing for journalist Sandra Muhoza has just been postponed under a false pretext, Reporters Without Borders (RSF) has contacted the African Commission’s Special Rapporteur on Freedom of Expression and Access to Information to interrogate the Burundian authorities about the journalist’s situation.
The appeal hearing of journalist Sandra Muhoza, initially scheduled for 4 March and then adjourned to 11 March, has again been postponed to 19 March. According to her lawyer, Prosper Niyoyankana, the reason for the postponement is “the unavailability of the vehicle used to transport the detainees from Mpimba Central Prison,” due to a lack of fuel — the same excuse used in September 2024 to postpone her initial trial.
A journalist for the news website La Nova Burundi, Sandra Muhoza has been arbitrarily detained since 18 April 2024. RSF has referred her case to the Special Rapporteur on Freedom of Expression and Access to Information for Africa’s leading human rights body, the African Commission on Human and Peoples’ Rights (ACHPR). RSF has asked the Special Rapporteur to interrogate the Burundian authorities about the journalist’s situation as soon as possible.
“It is time to end the detention of this wrongly condemned journalist. We have decided to refer the matter to the ACHPR Special Rapporteur on Freedom of Expression and Access to Information, so the Burundian authorities can be held accountable for the arbitrary nature of her detention. They must fully recognise the gravity of this repressive act and release her immediately.”
Sadibou Marong, Director of RSF’s Sub-Saharan Africa bureau
Sandra Muhoza was sentenced on 16 December 2024 to 21 months in prison – 18 months for “undermining the integrity of the national territory” and three months for “racial aversion” – for having relayed information concerning the government’s alleged distribution of arms in a private WhatsApp group for media professionals. The prosecution had initially requested an outrageous 12-year prison sentence for the journalist.
