(RSF/IFEX) – In a press release issued by RSF on 22 April 1998, the organization announced that it had delivered that day a letter to the Prime Minister of Cameroon, Peter Musonge Mafany, asking for the release of jailed journalist Pius Njawe. On 22 April 1998, the Prime Minister had been invited to an information […]
(RSF/IFEX) – In a press release issued by RSF on 22 April 1998, the
organization announced that it had delivered that day a letter to the Prime
Minister of Cameroon, Peter Musonge Mafany, asking for the release of jailed
journalist Pius Njawe. On 22 April 1998, the Prime Minister had been invited
to an information seminar organized by the French Centre for Foreign
Commerce (le Centre français du commerce extérieur), and later that evening
met with the National Assembly’s France-Cameroon Friendship Group (le Groupe
d’amitié France-Cameroun de l’Assemblée nationale).
Background Information
On 13 January 1998, Pius Njawe, editor-in-chief of the private weekly “Le
Messager” was sentenced to two years in prison for “spreading false
information”, in connection with an article which appeared in the 22
December 1997 issue. The article reported that President Paul Biya had
suffered from a heart attack while watching during a football match. The
President’s office refuted the report in a denial published in “Le Messager”
on 26 December 1997.
On 14 April 1998, Njawe’s sentence was reduced on appeal to one year in
prison, however RSF continues to consider his conviction unfounded and
discriminatory as no breach of professional ethics was committed. As well,
the crime of “spreading false information”, for which Njawe was convicted,
is a criminal offense and does not exist in the special Press Law of
December 1990. Njawe was therefore not judged according to the law that
governs his profession, which is against the principle of a specific law
overriding a general law. For these reasons, RSF has asked the Prime
Minister of Cameroon to use his authority to secure Njawe’s release.
