Journalist Jean-Claude Kavumbagu was arrested on 11 September and charged with defamation. He alleged in an article that the cost of President Nkurunziza’s trip to see the opening ceremony of the Beijing Olympics caused some civil servants’ salaries to be paid late. He is held in Mpimba Central Prison, in the capital, Bujumbura. Amnesty International considers him a prisoner of conscience, detained solely for the peaceful exercise of his right to freedom of expression.
