Landry Ulrich Nguéma Ngokpélé, editor of the privately owned newspaper Le Quotidien de Bangui, was arrested on May 8, 2025, over his newspaper’s report on claims that former President François Bozizé returned to the capital, Bangui.
Ngokpélé was arrested by a man in civilian clothes, who pointed a gun at him and threatened to shoot if the journalist refused to cooperate, his lawyer, Roger Junior Loutomo, told CPJ.
On May 14, an investigating judge ordered Ngokpélé’s transfer to Bangui’s Ngaragba prison from a gendarmerie office, where he had been held since his arrest.
On May 19, the judge charged Ngokpélé with complicity in rebellion, spreading information likely to disturb public order, inciting hatred and revolt, and subversion against the constitution and the state, according to Loutomo and copies of the charge sheet, which CPJ reviewed.
Loutomo told CPJ the case was related to the newspaper’s April 22 report that the former president, who has been living in exile in Guinea Bissau, had returned to the capital.
Bozizé, who is sought by the International Criminal Court for possible crimes against humanity, seized power in 2003 and was toppled in 2013. In 2020, he set up a rebel group seeking to overthrow the government, for which Central African authorities sentenced him in absentia in 2023 to life in prison.
The charge sheet cites sections 11, 12, 292, 295, 381, and 382 of the penal code, so Ngokpélé would face time in prison if found guilty. However, the country’s press law holds that journalism offenses should be subject to its sanctions, which would only involve fines.
Ngokpélé was previously detained for more than two months in 2021.
In May 2024, government spokesperson Maxime Balalou told CPJ via messaging app that he was “closely” following Ngokpélé’s case. Balalou asked to be sent questions via email, but when CPJ requested his email address, he did not respond.
CPJ’s July 2025 calls to Balalou, the gendarmerie, and the Bangui court went unanswered.
Ngokpélé was released on bail on August 11, 2025.