African Women Journalists Demand Justice as Sandra Muhoza Returns to Court

December 18, 2025 – Africa – 

A coalition of 127 women journalists from across Africa has publicly expressed solidarity with Burundian reporter Sandra Muhoza, urging Burundian authorities to free her unconditionally as she faces fresh legal proceedings this week. The letter, published on December 18, 2025, highlights deep concern over her longstanding detention and frames her continued imprisonment as an affront to press freedom and democratic norms. Muhoza, whose appeal is scheduled to be heard on December 19, 2025, remains in custody despite earlier judicial decisions that should have resulted in her release.

Muhoza, a journalist with the independent news outlet La Nova Burundi, was arrested in April 2024 following remarks made in a professional journalists’ WhatsApp group regarding the alleged distribution of machetes in Burundi. In December 2024, she was convicted on charges including “undermining the integrity of the national territory” and sentenced to 21 months in prison. Her conviction was overturned in May 2025 when an appeals court ruled that the trial court lacked proper jurisdiction. Despite this decision, she has remained detained, and new proceedings were initiated later in the year, with authorities denying her provisional release.

In their letter, the African women journalists emphasised that Muhoza’s incarceration deprives the public of an important voice and reiterated the emotional toll her detention has had on her family, especially with the holiday season nearing. Many signatories, including newsroom leaders and veteran reporters throughout the continent, noted that separation from loved ones is particularly painful for working mothers and condemned the broader implications of her case for media freedom.

Rights groups and press freedom advocates have consistently criticised the handling of Muhoza’s case. Observers argue that the charges against her are politically motivated and part of a pattern of pressure on independent journalists in Burundi. They underscore that detaining a journalist after an appeals court has invalidated her conviction sets a troubling precedent for media rights in the country.

As Muhoza approaches her next court appearance, journalists and advocates continue to amplify calls for her immediate release and demand that Burundi’s justice system uphold international standards of due process and freedom of expression.

Reference –

127 African women journalists write to jailed Burundian Sandra Muhoza as she returns to court

https://cpj.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/12/Aline-Sandra-Muhoza-Letter_Final_December-16_EN.pdf