A talk-show host who was serving a 10-year prison sentence for undermining Burundi\u2019s national integrity has told the BBC she is overjoyed to have been freed.<\/p>\n
Floriane Irangabiye spoke to the BBC as she left Bubanza Prison nearly two years after her arrest and said she could not wait to see her two children.<\/p>\n
The 36-year-old added that she was unlikely to continue in her role at the media company that regularly criticised Burundi’s government.<\/p>\n
Burundi has a poor record when it comes to press freedom, ranking 108th out of 180 countries<\/a> on the latest global index by the Reporters Without Borders watchdog.<\/p>\n Before her arrest, the journalist had been living in neighbouring Rwanda where she ran Radio Igicaniro.<\/p>\n At the time of her arrest in August 2022, she had come back to Burundi to attend the funeral of a family member and was sentenced the following January.<\/p>\n The announcement on Thursday of Ms Irangabiye’s presidential pardon came after she and her lawyers wrote letters to President \u00c9variste Ndayishimiye asking for her release, her family say.<\/p>\n They also say she has a serious medical condition which has worsened<\/a> while in prison.<\/p>\n Before her release Ms Irangabiye told the BBC Great Lakes service<\/a> via text from jail that she was “very grateful to all of those who played a part in making this day happen – my family, human rights activists from Burundi and from other countries, journalist both from Burundi and internationally”.<\/p>\n “But especially I thank from the bottom of my heart President Ndayishimiye, who took this decision. I wish him well,\u201d she wrote.<\/p>\n News of Ms Irangabiye’s pardon has been cautiously welcomed by local rights groups, who are urging Burundi\u2019s government to release other people it says are unjustly imprisoned.<\/p>\n “Justice and human rights must be respected for all,\u201d said ACAT Burundi, while FORSC said there were \u201cthousands\u201d of other political prisoners still \u201clanguishing\u201d in the country\u2019s jails.<\/p>\n Another high-profile detainee, a journalist called Sandra Muhoza who is being held on charges similar to<\/a> those levelled at Ms Irangabiye<\/a>, remains in state custody.<\/p>\n The East African nation was notorious for political violence<\/a> and the repression of dissident voices under President Pierre Nkurunziza, who died suddenly<\/a> aged 55 during the coronavirus pandemic.<\/p>\n Since being elected in 2020, President Ndayishimiye has been credited with improving Burundi\u2019s international relations and enacting some reforms at home<\/a>, but analysts say too little progress has been made and human rights violations continue<\/a>.<\/p>\n Additional reporting by Cyriaque Muhawenayo and Robert Misigaro from the BBC Great Lakes service.<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\nMore BBC stories on Burundi:<\/h2>\n