Jailed Talk Show Host Pardoned By Burundian President

A talk show host jailed for undermining Burundi’s national integrity has been pardoned.

Floriane Irangabiye had already served 18 months in a 10-year prison sentence when the presidency announced on Thursday that it would grant her “full pardon.”

Before her arrest, the journalist lived in neighboring Rwanda, where she ran a media company called Radio Igicaniro, which regularly criticized the Burundian government.

When she was arrested two years ago, she had returned to Burundi to attend the funeral of a relative.

Burundi has a bad reputation when it comes to press freedom, ranked 108th out of 180 countries on the latest global index from watchdog Reporters Without Borders.

Ms Irangabiye’s release was announced after she and her lawyers wrote letters to President Évariste Ndayishimiye calling for her release, her family said.

They also say that they have a serious medical condition that has worsened while I was in prison.

News of Ms Irangabiye’s pardon was met with caution by local human rights groups, who are urging the Burundian government to release other people they say are being wrongly imprisoned.

“Justice and human rights must be respected for all,” ACAT Burundi said, while FORSC said “thousands” of other political prisoners were still “languishing” in the country’s jails.

Another famous prisoner, a journalist named Sandra Muhoza who is being held on charges similar to which were directed against Mrs. Irangabiyeremains in state custody.

The East African nation was notorious for political violence and the suppression of dissenting voices among President Pierre Nkurunziza, who died suddenly 55 years old during the coronavirus pandemic.

Since his election in 2020, President Ndayishimiye has been praised for improving Burundi’s international relations and implementing some reforms in our own countrybut analysts say too little progress has been made and human rights violations continue.