(CNN)The Burundi schoolgirls detained for drawing on a photo of President Pierre Nkurunziza in their schoolbooks have been freed, a Human Rights Watch official told CNN on Wednesday.
Human Rights Watch Central Africa director Lewis Mudge said the three girls were freed from Ngozi Central Prison two days after Justice Minister Aimée Laurentine Kanyana told state broadcaster RTNB that their provisional release had been approved.
The schoolgirls were charged March 18 with “insulting the head of state” and faced up to five years in jail if they were convicted.
