Newspaper directors sentenced to jail for defaming Finance Minister

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 Cameroon Tribune. The three papers appear irregularly and many journalists do not consider them reputable, local journalists told CPJ.

Moussala, director of Aurore Plus, and Dipanda, director of Le Constat, were convicted on May 10 and given suspended prison sentences of four and six months respectively, the Cameroon Tribune reported. Mandio, of Le Front, was sentenced to three months in jail, but the judge did not immediately issue an arrest warrant, he told CPJ. Moussala and Mandio were also fined and ordered to pay damages to the plaintiff.