President Evariste Ndayishimiye of Burundi has pardoned Floriane Irangabiye, a journalist who was serving a 10-year prison sentence for “endangering the integrity of the national territory.”
Floriane Irangabiye “benefits from total remission of sentences,” read a statement from the President’s Office, Ntare Rushatsi, dated August 14.
The statement said Irangabiye, who was in a Bujumbura prison, had requested a pardon.
Arrested in August 2022, Irangabiye was sentenced in January 2023 in a trial that rights groups said was unfair.
The charges against Irangabiye stemmed from her work on the diaspora-based news outlet Radio Igicaniro, which was critical of the Burundian government.
She was detained after her return to Burundi from Rwanda to participate in a ‘weeding ceremony’.
After two months of detention, she was sentenced to 10 years in prison by the Mukaza High Court. On May 2, 2023, the Mukaza Court of Appeal confirmed this judgment.
The Union of Journalists of the Free African Press (UJPLA) called for the unconditional release of journalist Floriane Irangabiye and urged the Burundian authorities to respect press freedom