Police arrested Ndiomo, the publisher of the bi-monthly newspaper Le Zenith, on October 13 and held him for a week before remanding him to Kondengui Central Prison in the capital, Yaounde, according to news reports.
The police initially charged Ndiomo with defamation in connection with a complaint filed by Urbain Ebang Mve, the secretary-general of Cameroon’s finance ministry, over a series of articles in Le Zenith, according to news reports. The articles, which were published earlier in the year, also featured pictures of property owned by Mve. The articles alleged that the official had used his position as secretary general to illicitly amass wealth, according to Ndiomo’s wife and news reports.
Mve denied the allegations to CPJ. He told CPJ that he had taken loans to build that property during his 28-year career in various government positions and not during his tenure as secretary-general.
In October 2014, Ndiomo was charged with blackmail and issuing threats, according to news reports. He denied all the charges, Christian Nsang, Ndiomo’s lawyer, told CPJ.
Ndiomo’s bail application was denied, and he was scheduled to appear in court on December 15, 2014, Nsang told CPJ.