CAMEROON
APRIL 20, 2005 Posted: May 12, 2005 Guibaï Gatama and Abdoulaye Oumaté L’Oeil du Sahel LEGAL ACTION. On April 20, a court in Maroua, the capital of Cameroon’s Far North Province, sentenced Guibaï Gatama, publication director of the independent weekly L’Oeil du Sahel, and Abdoulaye Oumaté, a journalist for the paper, to five months in…
Attacks on the Press 2004: Africa Analysis
Overviewby Julia Crawford With the rule of law weak in many African countries, journalists regularly battle threats and harassment, not only from governments but also from rogue elements, such as militias. Repressive legislation is used in many countries to silence journalists who write about sensitive topics such as corruption, mismanagement, and human rights abuses. If…
Attacks on the Press 2004: Cameroon
Cameroon President Paul Biya, who has been in power for 22 years, won another seven-year term in October elections marked by allegations of fraud. Because opposition groups remained weak and fragmented, Biya’s ruling Cameroon People’s Democratic Movement felt little need to campaign. The polling date was not set until mid-September, and Biya waited another five…
Response from the Embassy of the Republic of Cameroon
Dear Mrs. Cooper, We hereby acknowledge receipt of your letter of January 14, 2005 addressed to His Excellency Ambassador Jerome MENDOUGA, regarding Mr. Eric Wirkwa Tayu, publisher of a private newspaper in Cameroon. Mr. Tayu, you claim, “has been in prison since July 28, 2004 when he was convicted of defaming Kumbo’s mayor, Donatus Njong Fonyuy….”
CPJ calls for release of jailed publication director
Your Excellency: The Committee to Protect Journalists is deeply troubled by the recent jailing of Jules Koum Koum, publication director of the private bimonthly Le Jeune Observateur, on criminal defamation charges. Two journalists are now imprisoned in Cameroon for their work.
CAMEROON
JANUARY 10, 2005 Updated: February 15, 2005 Jules Koum Koum, Le Jeune Observateur LEGAL ACTION, IMPRISONED Jules Koum Koum, publication director of the private bimonthly Le Jeune Observateur, was sentenced to six months in prison for allegedly defaming the CPA insurance company in an article published in February 2004.
Journalists in prison, 2004
Around the world, 122 journalists were in prison at the end of 2004 for practicing their profession, 16 fewer than the year before. International advocacy campaigns, including those waged by the Committee to Protect Journalists, helped win the early release of a number of imprisoned journalists, notably six independent writers and reporters in Cuba.
CPJ protests continuing imprisonment of journalist
Your Excellency: The Committee to Protect Journalists condemns the imprisonment of Eric Wirkwa Tayu, publisher of the small private newspaper Nso Voice, which is based in the western town of Kumbo. According to local sources, Tayu has been in prison in Kumbo since July 28, when he was convicted of defaming Kumbo’s mayor, Donatus Njong Fonyuy.
BBC journalists released
New York, July 19, 2004—Farouk Chothia and Ange Ngu Thomas, two BBC journalists who were detained last week by Cameroonian soldiers in the disputed Bakassi peninsula and accused of spying, were released without charge on Friday, July 16, according to the BBC and international news reports. They are expected to arrive in the capital, Yaoundé,…
Two BBC journalists under house arrest
New York, July 14, 2004—The Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) calls for the immediate release of two BBC journalists arrested on Sunday, July 11, while reporting in the Bakassi peninsular, a disputed territory between Cameroon and Nigeria. The BBC confirmed today that producer Farouk Chothia and reporter Ange Ngu Thomas are being held under house…