New York, May 8, 2007—The Committee to Protect Journalists extends its condolences to the colleagues and family of respected Associated Press reporter Anthony Mitchell, who was killed in a weekend plane crash in Cameroon. Mitchell, 39, a staff reporter with the AP’s Kenya bureau, was among 114 passengers killed when a Kenya Airways aircraft crashed…
New York, April 10, 2007—Prosecutors in the Cameroonian capital, Yaoundé, today lodged criminal charges against the director of a private tabloid who has been detained by police since Saturday in connection with a story about an alleged sex scandal, according to local sources and press freedom group Journaliste En Danger. Georges Gilbert Baongla of the…
NOVEMBER 27, 2006 Posted: December 29, 2006 Christopher Andu Ezieh, The Heron ATTACKED Police in the southwestern town of Buea dragged Ezieh, publisher of the private English-language weekly, from his home and subjected him to a brutal beating. Local journalists linked the attack to his newspaper’s critical coverage of the police response to student protests…
September 3, 2006 Posted: September 13, 2006 Duke Atangana Etotogo, Afrique Centrale IMPRISONED Etotogo, director of the new private monthly magazine Afrique Centrale, was arrested by the Division of Military Security (SEMIL) of the defense ministry in the capital Yaoundé after publishing an article criticizing the army.
May 2006 Posted: July 10, 2006 Peter William Mandio, Le Front Michel Michaut Moussala, Aurore Plus Socrate Dipanda, Le Constat LEGAL ACTION The directors of three private newspapers were convicted of defaming Finance Minister Polycarpe Abah Abah in a series of critical articles and sentenced to prison in May 2006, according to the state-owned daily…
New York, May 1, 2006—The publisher of Cameroon’s English-language tabloid The Chronicle was beaten unconscious by the bodyguard and the driver of an opposition leader, local journalists told the Committee to Protect Journalists today. Eric Motomu, who also edits the paper, told CPJ he was attacked on Friday at a rally in the opposition stronghold…
Your Excellency: The Committee to Protect Journalists is troubled by the cascade of criminal cases filed against newspaper directors who published lists of supposed “secret homosexuals” in January and February. While readers may have been offended by publication of the lists in La Météo, L’Anecdote, and Le Soleil d’Afrique, the use of repressive criminal defamation and insult laws in this matter endangers press freedom in Cameroon.
CAMEROON President Paul Biya, one of Africa’s longest-serving leaders, retained a tight grip on power in his 23rd year in office. While Cameroon boasts diverse media, local independent journalists complain of sophisticated government intimidation, resulting in widespread self-censorship. Local journalists point to a complex web of financial pressures—including the withholding of advertising revenue by government…
UNITED STATES An investigation into the leak of a CIA officer’s identity erupted, with one reporter compelled to testify about his confidential source, another jailed for 85 days before she testified, and a high-level White House aide indicted on federal charges of perjury, false statements, and obstruction of justice. Confidentiality of sources was under attack…