By Enyichukwu Enemanna
A Burundian journalist who was slammed ten years imprisonment has been pardoned by the country’s President, Evariste Ndayishimiye in a development welcomed by pro-democracy activists and free press campaigners.
Floriane Irangabiye was convicted for allegedly undermining national security and collaborating with armed groups, an allegation she has denied.
Irangabiye, a talk show host with Igicaniro Radio, an online media outlet operating from abroad, was arrested in August 2022 after traveling to Burundi from Rwanda, where she had been living in exile.
She was however pardoned on Wednesday through a presidential order issued.
Her colleagues and various human rights organizations had consistently faulted the charges under which she was convicted, arguing that her arrest was a direct result of her work as a journalist.
A superior court of Ntahangwa had sentenced Irangabiye to a decade in prison, a ruling that sparked widespread condemnation from journalists’ associations and rights groups.
Speaking to reporters outside Bubanza Prison after her release Friday, Irangabiye said it was the news her family had been waiting for.
“I am very happy and have a lot to say,” she said. “I am going to rejoin my family and meet my children again. I hope this is a special day for them. August 16, 2024, will always be a special date in my life, a date that will be part of my history in one way or another.”
She said her time behind bars had been trying and thanked those who pushed for her release.
“This is not a place you would wish anyone to be, not even your enemies. The pardon from President Evariste Ndayishimiye is something I will never forget. I have been touched in a special way. I am grateful to local and international human rights organizations that did a lot of advocacy on my behalf for such a day to happen,” she said.
Heritage Times HT reports that Burundi is one of the African countries where journalists are hounded over in line of their professional duty, mostly over information the government finds unsavoury.
According to Reporters Without Borders, media members face intimidation and live in fear of attacks or detention.
Many journalists practice self-censorship to report on issues in the country.
Several broadcast organizations have been barred from covering the country, since 2018, including VOA.
Irangabiye’s pardon has been met with joy and relief by her family, colleagues and civil society organizations.
