Sandra Muhoza, a journalist for the privately owned online newspaper La Nova Burundi, was arrested on April 13, 2024. In early 2026, she was serving a four-year prison sentence, following conviction on charges connected to comments she made in a WhatsApp group.
Muhoza was arrested in the northern Ngozi region while meeting a businessman linked to the ruling CNDD-FDD party for an interview, according to Agence France-Presse and two people familiar with the case who spoke to CPJ on condition of anonymity, citing fear of retaliation.
Muhoza was detained overnight in Ngozi before being transferred to the National Intelligence Service (SNR) headquarters in the capital, Bujumbura, where she was held without access to family or legal counsel, one of the people familiar with the case said. On April 18, 2024, Muhoza was moved to Bujumbura’s Mpimpa prison, that person added.
In May 2024, a three-judge bench considered provisional release for Muhoza but decided that she would remain imprisoned pending trial, according to independent news outlets Iwacu and SOS Médias Burundi as well as a report by four Burundian rights organizations. She was charged with contravening sections of Burundi’s penal code that criminalize showing or inciting “racial or ethnic aversion or hatred" and “undermining the integrity of the national territory,” according to one of the people who spoke to CPJ.
The charges against Muhoza were connected to comments she made on a journalists’ WhatsApp group, discussing the alleged distribution of machetes in parts of the country, those sources said.
On December 16, 2024, in Mukaza High Court, in Bujumbura province, Muhoza was convicted of both charges and sentenced to 21 months in prison, according to court documents reviewed by CPJ, which also showed that Muhoza and the prosecutors subsequently appealed the judgment.
On May 30, 2025, the Bujumbura Mairie Court of Appeal said Muhoza had been tried and convicted by a court that did not have jurisdiction. It cited a law on judicial procedures, which stipulates that a defendant should be tried by a court in the region where they were arrested, live, or where the crime was allegedly committed. The appeal court directed that the case be referred to a competent court.
On September 26, 2025, Muhoza was transferred from Mpimpa prison to Ngozi Central Prison and in October authorities began new judicial proceedings against her, on the same charges, according to court documents reviewed by CPJ.
On January 14, 2026, Muhoza was informed that the court in Ngozi had sentenced her to four years in prison and fined her 200,000 Burundian francs (US$68), according to the news outlets SOS Médias Burundi and Radio Publique Africaine and a person familiar with her case, who spoke to CPJ on condition of anonymity, citing safety concerns.
As of late 2024, CPJ did not receive any responses to its emails and text messages seeking comment from the Minister of Justice Domine Banyankimbona, Interior Ministry spokesperson Pierre Nkurikiye, Prosecutor General’s Office spokesperson Agnès Bagiricenge, and government spokesperson Jérôme Niyonzima.
In early 2026, CPJ did not receive immediate responses to requests for comment sent via email to the justice ministry and messaging app to Niyonzima.