Security agents from Cameroon ‘s State Secretariat for Defense arrested Mombio, editor of the bimonthly L’Ouest Républicain, at his office in the western town of Bafoussam in connection with a story critical of Scientific Research Minister Madeleine Tchuinté. The arrest was based on a complaint about an August 26 column headlined “The Crimes of Madeleine Tchuinté.”
Mombio was transferred to the capital, Yaoundé, and detained for 11 days for questioning. On September 15, a court charged the journalist with attempted fraud, blackmail, and insult, and sent him to prison pending trial. He was denied bail.