The Human Rights Watch (HRW) has said that the conviction of Burundian journalist, Floriane Irangabiye, on charges of ‘undermining the integrity of the national territory’ violates her rights to free speech and to a fair trial.
Development Diaries reports that the High court of Mukaza sentenced Irangabiye to ten years in prison and a fine of 1,000,000 Burundian Francs.
Her conviction is based on an August 2022 Radio Igicaniro broadcast she hosted during which she criticised Burundi’s human rights record.
‘Floriane Irangabiye’s conviction highlights the Burundian authorities’ manipulation of the justice system to shut down criticism’, Africa Researcher at HRW, Clémentine de Montjoye, said in a statement.
‘If the Burundian authorities are serious about reforms, they should end their vendetta against those they perceive to be against the government, including the scores of journalists and human rights defenders who fled after the country’s 2015 political crisis’.
The government’s hostility toward Burundi’s once-thriving civil society and media has continued despite the election of a new president in May 2020.
‘Floriane Irangabiye’s conviction shows that the crackdown against those who criticise the government is far from over’, de Montjoye added.
HRW called on Burundian authorities to carry out substantive reforms to address the lack of judicial independence, end politicised prosecutions, and ensure accountability for abuses committed since 2015.
However, Burundi’s prosecutor general, Sylvestre Nyandwi, in a statement, said that Irangabiye’s case complied with Burundian criminal procedures and laws and that her conviction was not politically motivated.
According to media reports, Irangabiye was taken into custody on 30 August, 2022, when she was intercepted by national intelligence agents while on her way to a relative’s funeral in Matana, in southern Burundi.
It was gathered that she had travelled from Rwanda to Burundi in mid-August, and after her arrest, a relative said that she was transferred to the national intelligence services’ headquarters in Bujumbura, where she was interrogated without a lawyer.
Photo source: HRW
