Burundi schoolgirls jailed for scribbling over president’s picture

Three teenage schoolgirls in Burundi have been sent to prison to await trial for scribbling on a picture of President Pierre Nkurunziza in textbooks.

The girls, aged 15, 16 and 17, face up to five years in prison for insulting the head of state if found guilty.

Judges said the three girls should be “prosecuted for contempt of the head of state“, and ordered them to a juvenile section of a prison in the north of Burundi at Ngozi to await trial.

The trio has been in custody since March 12, 2019. They are accused of defacing photographs of Nkurunziza in five textbooks belonging to their school.

A judicial source, who called the case “very sensitive” and said it was overseen directly by the Attorney General, reported that the girls arrived at the prison on Wednesday afternoon.

In 2016, several schoolchildren were handed prison sentences for similar scribbles on the president’s face, and hundreds of pupils expelled, sparking an international outcry.