Journalist assaulted after trying to interview President Biya
(RSF/IFEX) – In a letter to Minister of Communications Jacques Fame-Ndongo, RSF protested the assault of journalist Jean Vincent Djenga Mondo, from the private radio station Magic FM, on 8 December 2001. “This affair is representative of the many problems experienced on a daily basis by journalists from independent media in Cameroon, which are a […]
Editor-in-chief of independent newspaper harassed
(RSF/IFEX) – In a letter to Minister of the Interior Ferdinand Koungou Edima, RSF expressed its concern about the police’s summoning of Jean-Marc Soboth, editor-in-chief of the independent newspaper “La Nouvelle Expression”, which is published three times weekly. “Journalists from independent media outlets are increasingly being summoned by the police, who want them to reveal […]
Private press harassed again
(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 […]
Authorities target independent newspaper “Mutations”
(RSF/IFEX) – In a letter to Minister of the Interior Ferdinand Koungou Edima, RSF protested the harassment of the independent newspaper “Mutations”, which publishes three times weekly. This has included police raids on the newspaper’s headquarters, the seizure of 300 copies of the newspaper and the publisher being summoned for a hearing. “These attacks on […]
Cameroon government compensates abused journalist
(ARTICLE 19/IFEX) – The following is an ARTICLE 19 press release: 11 June 2001 CAMEROON GOVERNMENT COMPENSATES ABUSED JOURNALIST: PM HANDS OVER CHEQUE FOR $137,000 Albert Mukong, the Cameroonian journalist and human rights activist who took his case to the UN Human Rights Committee, has been given $137,000 by the Cameroon Government in compensation for […]
Journalists in defamation trial not imprisoned
(IPI/IFEX) – The following is a correction to an IPI alert which was originally distributed on the IFEX Auto List on 28 July 2000. IPI’s original 27 July letter to Cameroonian President Paul Biya follows the correction: Erratum Dear Sir/Madam Re: Cameroon Protest, 27 July Please find attached an International Press Institute protest which was […]
CPJ condemns prison sentence against journalists, criminal defamation laws
(CPJ/IFEX) – In a 26 July 2000 letter to President Paul Biya, CPJ expressed its outrage about the prison sentences recently imposed on three journalists from the private biweekly publication “Dikalo” in retaliation for their coverage of alleged corruption and mismanagement at a local trade union. On 18 July, CPJ sources say, the Yaounde Court […]
Two journalists sentenced to six months in prison
(RSF/IFEX) – In a letter to Minister of Justice Robert Mbella Mbapé, RSF protested the sentencing of Daniel Atangana and Thierry Mbouza, journalists with the biweekly “Dikalo”, to six months in prison. The organisation asked that “the order against Daniel Atangana and Thierry Mbouza be annulled, and that, during the appeals process, they not receive […]
Concerns about effect of newly passed broadcasting decree
The following is an ARTICLE 19 press release: CAMEROON BROADCASTING DECREE IS FALSE DAWN NOT REAL REFORM A month before the next meeting of the Commonwealth Ministerial Action Group (1), the Cameroon parliament passed a decree which apparently opens the way for private broadcasters to finally begin operating in Cameroon (2). ARTICLE 19 is warning […]
RSF protests six-month prison sentence against journalist
**Updates previous IFEX alert of 6 April 2000** (RSF/IFEX) – In a letter to Justice Minister Robert Mbella Mbappé, RSF protested the six-month prison sentence against Michel Pekoua, managing editor of the private weekly “Ouest-Echos”. RSF asked that the journalist be acquitted during the appeals process. The organisation recalled that international human rights organisations believe […]
Journalist sentenced to six months for defamation
(CPJ/IFEX) – The following is a 5 April 2000 CPJ news alert: CAMEROON: JOURNALIST SENTENCED TO SIX MONTHS FOR DEFAMATION New York, April 5, 2000 — On April 3, a criminal court in the western Cameroonian town of Bafoussam convicted Michel Eclador Pekoua on one count of defamation and sentenced him to six months in […]
Radio journalists harassed over human rights coverage
(CPJ/IFEX) – The following is a 10 March 2000 CPJ press release: CAMEROON: RADIO JOURNALISTS HARASSED OVER HUMAN RIGHTS COVERAGE New York, March 10, 2000 — On February 23, authorities in Cameroon interrogated three journalists from the provincial station Radio Buea about a broadcast that criticized the government’s treatment of English-speaking Cameroonians, according to sources […]
Cameroon: secret shame of one of the Commonwealth’s newest members
(ARTICLE 19/IFEX) – The following is an ARTICLE 19 report: CAMEROON: SECRET SHAME OF ONE OF COMMONWEALTH’S NEWEST MEMBERS Today, with the Cameroon government due to report (1) to the UN Human Rights Committee, an international human rights group accuses it of perpetrating systematic and persistent human rights violations ranging from illegitimate detention to torture […]
Two journalists arrested
(RSF/IFEX) – In two letters addressed to Justice Minister Laurent Esso and Minister of Territorial Administration Samson Ename, RSF has protested the arrest of two journalists in Yaoundé. RSF asked for the release of Christophe Bobiokono, of the bi-weekly newspaper “Mutations”, and Anselme Mballa, of the newspaper “Le Serment”. Robert Ménard, the organisation’s secretary-general, explained […]
Journalist sentenced to four months in prison for libel
(RSF/IFEX) – According to Reporters sans frontières (RSF), Souley Onohiolo, a contributor to the tri-weekly “La Nouvelle Expression”, was sentenced on 8 June 1999 to four months in prison for “libel” by the court of Bafia (in the centre of Cameroon.) On 17 Februaury 1999, the journalist wrote an article describing an incident of exorcism […]
Newspaper suspension into third year
(RSF/IFEX) – RSF is highlighting the case of the weekly newspaper “La Plume du Jour”. On 11 September 1997, a ministerial decree ordered the seizure of the sixtieth issue of the weekly, dated 10 September, further to the publication of two articles titled: “A moraliser without morals” and “Who benefits from prisons?” These articles questioned […]