(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 […]
(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 that “international human rights bodies
consider the passing of prison sentences for violations of press laws,
including ‘defamation’, as disproportionate to the prejudice suffered by the
victim. This explains why today, no democratic state imposes prison
sentences in cases involving the press.”
According to information received by RSF, Bobiokono, a journalist with the
bi-weekly “Mutations”, was detained on 22 July 1999 at the newspaper’s
headquarters. Several armed police officers came to pick the journalist up
and take him to central police headquarters in Yaoundé. They did not have a
search warrant. No explanation was given for this arrest, though it may be
linked to the publication of an article in the newspaper’s 19 July edition
which stated that the son of the state minister for the economy and finance
was alloted public contracts on a regular basis. The editor-in-chief of
“Mutations” was also required to appear at the police station within
twenty-four hours.
In addition, on 16 July, Mballa, the editor in-chief of the newspaper “Le
Serment”, was sentenced to a six-month prison term for “defamation”. He is
accused of publishing an article last April which criticised the behaviour
of the state secretary for the post and telecommunications towards
traditional chiefs. Mballa is being held at the Kondengui prison in Yaoundé.
