Cameroon

2017

  
A military court reduced Ahmed Abba's 10-year prison sentence on terror-related charges to 24 months. (Credit withheld)

Ahmed Abba to be freed after Cameroonian court reduces sentence on appeal

Durban, South Africa, December 21, 2017 — The Committee to Protect Journalists welcomes today’s ruling by a Cameroonian military appeal court that should result in Radio France Internationale radio journalist Ahmed Abba’s immediate release from prison.

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Journalists and protesters hold placards outside an Istanbul court on October 31, 2017, calling for the release of jailed colleagues, including Turkish reporter Ahmet Şık. Turkey is the worst jailer of journalists in 2017. (AP/Lefteris Pitarakis)

Record number of journalists jailed as Turkey, China, Egypt pay scant price for repression

For the second year in a row, the number of journalists imprisoned for their work hit a historical high, as the U.S. and other Western powers failed to pressure the world’s worst jailers–Turkey, China, and Egypt–into improving the bleak climate for press freedom. A CPJ special report by Elana Beiser

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A supporter of President Paul Biya waits outside a Manhattan hotel during the UN General Assembly in September. Cameroonian authorities detained a columnist in Douala on December 6 for allegedly offending the president. (Reuters/Darren Ornitz)

Cameroon detains U.S.-Cameroonian writer over critical commentary

Lomé, Togo, December 8, 2017–Cameroonian authorities detained Patrice Nganang, a Cameroonian-American academic and columnist, as he attempted to fly to Zimbabwe from Douala on December 6, according to his lawyer and media reports. The lawyer, Emmanuel Simh, told CPJ that Nganang is being held in Yaoundé on accusations of offending the president in a Facebook…

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President Paul Biya of Cameroon addresses the United Nations General Assembly, at U.N. headquarters on September 22, 2017. A trial judge on October 9 charged three journalists with criminal defamation for their

Three Cameroonian journalists charged with criminal defamation

Cotonou, October 12, 2017–The Committee to Protect Journalists today called on Cameroonian authorities to immediately halt the prosecution of three journalists after a judge on October 9 changed the charges against them mid-trial.

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Journalists Not Terrorists

Video: Ahmed Abba’s sister appeals for his release

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Journalists Not Terrorists

Video: Cameroon’s journalists face suppression

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AFP

Journalists Not Terrorists: In Cameroon, anti-terror legislation is used to silence critics and suppress dissent

In 2014, Cameroon enacted a broad anti-terror law as part of its effort to counter the extremist group Boko Haram, but authorities are using it to arrest and threaten local journalists who report on the militants or unrest in the country’s English-speaking regions. A presidential decree in August 2017 ended legal proceedings against at least…

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AFP

Journalists Not Terrorists

Recommendations The Committee to Protect Journalists offers the following recommendations:

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AFP

Journalists Not Terrorists

In Cameroon, anti-terror legislation is used to silence critics and suppress dissent A light breakfast of an omelet and a cup of black coffee eaten on the trot: Little did Radio France Internationale correspondent Ahmed Abba know it would be his last meal as a free man. Abba had a 10 a.m. assignment on July…

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AFP

Journalists Not Terrorists

About This Report This report was written and researched by CPJ Africa Program Coordinator Angela Quintal. Jonathan Rozen, CPJ’s Africa Research Associate contributed research.

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2017