(RSF/IFEX) – In a letter to police official (chief representative of the National Police) Pierre Minlo Medjo, RSF protested the assault of Rémy Ngono, a journalist from the RTS radio station (Radio Silantou) and the detention of Georges Baongla, a journalist from the weekly “Le Démenti”. “We ask that you order the launch of an […]
(RSF/IFEX) – In a letter to police official (chief representative of the National Police) Pierre Minlo Medjo, RSF protested the assault of Rémy Ngono, a journalist from the RTS radio station (Radio Silantou) and the detention of Georges Baongla, a journalist from the weekly “Le Démenti”. “We ask that you order the launch of an investigation, so that the authors of the assault of Remy Ngono are punished, and consult with the relevant authorities towards proceeding with Georges Baongla’s immediate release,” asked RSF Secretary-General Robert Ménard. The organisation recalled that Cameroon has ratified the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights.
According to information collected by RSF, during the night of 20 to 21 August 2001, Ngono, a journalist from the private station RTS, was assaulted by police officers. While returning from a private dinner, he was detained by police officers who took him by force to the police station. Ngono was beaten several times and was only released in the morning. The journalist also claimed that police officers had assaulted him in May. He is accused of criticising the police in his daily programme “Coup franc”, which is very popular in Yaoundé.
On 22 August, Baongla was arrested by police officers for “publication of false news.” His arrest follows the 14 August publication of an article in which the journalist implicated Minister of the Economy and Finances Michel Meva ‘a M’Eboutou in an embezzlement case. The police officers demanded that the journalist reveal his sources. However, Cameroonian legislation guarantees the protection of information sources, and as such, the journalist should be released. According to the authorities, he is being kept in detention for “breach of trust.” He allegedly did not reimburse 500,000 CFA francs (approx. US$695; 760 euros) that a minister’s nephew had loaned him. The journalist denies the accusation.
RSF recalled that in July, the independent newspaper “Mutations”, published three times weekly, was harassed following the publication, in a special issue, of twenty-one government decrees concerning army reforms. After seizing 300 copies of the newspaper, police officers had demanded to know the identity of the newspaper’s source. Publication director Haman Mana was kept in police custody for three days but did not reveal his sources (see IFEX alert of 1 August 2001).
