Jean-Claude Kavumbagu

Jean-Claude Kavumbagu is a Burundian Internet journalist who has been arrested on multiple occasions for issues related to his reporting. In 2011, he was charged with treason in a high-profile trial and named a prisoner of conscience by Amnesty International.

Olympics scandal and arrest Kavumbagu is director of the Burundian Internet news agency Net Press. On 11 September 2008, he was arrested following the publication of an article in which he alleged that the cost of President Pierre Nkurunziza's trip to see the Beijing Olympics (an estimated 100 million Burundian francs) caused some civil servants’ salaries to be paid late. Following a government statement that the trip had only cost half of the alleged amount, Kavumbagu was charged with "libelous writing and insulting remarks." Kavumbagu was cleared by a court in March 2009 and released from prison. However, the prosecutor appealed the case, and as of July 2010, it remains open. and Front Line. A number of journalism and press freedom organizations have called for the charges against Kavumbagu to be dropped, including the Committee to Protect Journalists, the International Federation of Journalists, the Federation of African Journalists, and Reporters Without Borders.

In November 2010, Kavumbagu was denied a request for bail, and was housed with violent offenders. On 13 April 2011, the trial's prosecutor announced his intention to seek a life sentence. On 3 May, World Press Freedom Day, around 100 Burundian journalists marched into Bujumbura to demonstrate support for Kavumbagu.

On 13 May, Kavumbagu was acquitted of treason, but found guilty on the charge of publishing an article "likely to discredit the state or economy". He was sentenced to eight months' imprisonment and released for time served. Human Rights Watch and the Committee to Protect Journalists protested the verdict, the latter reiterating its belief that "Burundi should decriminalize press offenses and allow journalists to speak and write freely without fear of harassment or arrest".