Jean Bigirimana
There was uneasy calm when the president of Burundi, Pierre Nkurunziza, retained power despite the lapse of his term in 2015. After the failed coup on May 13, 2015, following the elections, troops loyal to the president, out of anger, attacked some media houses for broadcasting the coup plotters’ announcements. Many journalists fled the country while others went into hiding, but a few others, including Jean Bigirimana, decided to stay and continue their work. Bigirimana, who worked for the Iwacu media group, has been missing since July 22, 2016, the day he was arrested and forcibly disappeared by agents believed to be of the National Intelligence Agency (SNR), said Amnesty International. There were subsequent reports that he might have been killed after two decomposed bodies were found in the local Mubarazi River in August 2016. His wife, Godeberthe Hakizimana, however, said that neither of the bodies was her husband’s. After almost two years, families and colleagues have been waiting on authorities for information about Bigirimana’s whereabouts.
