The journalists from domestic news website Iwacu and their driver had traveled to report on violence in the northwestern province of Bubanza when they were arrested on Tuesday.
The journalists from domestic news website Iwacu and their driver had traveled to report on violence in the northwestern province of Bubanza when they were arrested on Tuesday. The media outlet had also received reports of rebel attacks and abductions of civilians. Editors decided to send radio journalist Christine Kamikazi, political reporter Agnès Ndirubusa, English-language journalist Egide Harerimana, photographer Térence Mpozenzi and driver Adolphe Masabarakiza to check on the situation.Now the group has been formally charged with “complicity in undermining the internal security of state,” tweeted Pierre Emmanuel, an editor at the website.
In the last few years, Nkurunziza has clamped down on civil rights by withdrawing from the International Criminal Court, expelling U.N. human rights investigators, shutting down rights groups and forcing journalists into exile. Schoolgirls who scribbled on his portrait were arrested.