Burundi : two journalists briefly arrested during a sit-in in Bujumbura

SOS Médias Burundi

Bujumbura, April 21, 2025 – Willy Kwizera and Masudi Mugiraneza, journalists at Bonesha FM and Nderagakura radio stations respectively, were arrested on Monday morning in Kinama, north of Bujumbura, while covering a peaceful sit-in by disgruntled clients of a microfinance institution that had been closed for several months. They were released late in the day, along with some fifty protesters arrested during the security forces’ intervention.

Both journalists had gone to the site to report on a demonstration organized by clients of the Ineza microfinance institution, located in Carama. Unexpectedly closed since last January, the financial institution is accused by its former customers of never having repaid the savings they had deposited there.

According to several witnesses, agents of the National Intelligence Service (SNR) and the police quickly surrounded the site of the sit-in, arresting many participants as well as the two journalists present. All were taken to the municipal police station in the commercial city of Bujumbura, formerly the Special Research Bureau (BSR), a place notorious for its harsh interrogations.

Sources close to the case indicate that the authorities criticized the journalists for covering the demonstration without first notifying local authorities. Their presence at the site was reportedly interpreted as a form of “tacit complicity” with the protesters.

It was only in the evening that the Bujumbura municipal commissioner ordered their release. “Let’s not even think about this kind of complaint, especially with elections approaching,” he reportedly declared, according to witnesses, issuing a clear warning to both protesters and journalists.

The arrest of Willy Kwizera and Masudi Mugiraneza sparked a wave of outrage in Burundian and international journalistic circles.

An increasingly hostile climate toward journalists

This latest incident comes amid a tense climate for the media in Burundi. In recent years, several journalists have been arrested, intimidated, or forced into exile. The media space has shrunk considerably, particularly since the political events of 2015, and election periods are often marked by increased pressure on critical voices.

Several colleagues have had their accreditations suspended or have been summoned several times by the intelligence services.

Media professionals are calling on the authorities to ensure a safe environment for journalists, an essential condition for healthy public debate, especially in the run-up to the legislative and district elections scheduled for June 2025.