This footage was filmed and produced 26 April 2021.

Burundi on Monday freed some 1,300 prisoners in the first stage of a presidential pardon aimed at emptying overcrowded jails in the East African nation, the country's justice minister said. Nearly 1,000 prisoners were released from a jail in Bujumbura at a ceremony attended by President Evariste Ndayishimiye, government ministers and foreign ambassadors. Another 331 inmates were discharged in the capital Gitega. They were the first among some 3,000 detainees the government has promised to imminently release, with another 2,000 receiving sentence cuts that will allow them to walk free in coming weeks.


The video shows the release of thousands of prisoners following the first presidential pardon of Evariste Ndayishimiye. As you can see in the video, most of the people released are women with children. The President told the released prisoners to get used to a new life free of crime in order to avoid re-incarceration. The released prisoners expressed great gratitude for the long-awaited decision of the Head of State of Burundi. In general, the people of Burundi welcomed the move of Evariste Ndayishimie as an unprecedented step in his current tenure as head of State of Burundi.