Police question respected newspaper editor for six hours

Messe, who edits the Mutations daily and is widely respected for his professionalism, was questioned for more than six hours about an article by one of his journalists describing tension and clashes between two members of President Paul Biya’s party. The final sentence, suggesting that President Biya was happy to see members of the Cameroonian elite squabbling among themselves, was apparently regarded by the authorities as “anti-patriotic.” “We are extremely worried by this long interrogation of the editor of such a well-established newspaper as Mutations over such a harmless comment,” said Cléa Kahn-Sriber, the head of the Reporters Without Borders Africa desk. “We see it as a clear sign that a tougher line is being taken with the Cameroonian media, especially as other developments confirm this trend. The current security situation is obviously complex, but it should not be constantly exploited to prevent any comments about the president.” Other examples of a more authoritarian approach include the case of Félix Cyriaque Ebole Bola of Mutations and Rodrigue Tongue of Le Messager, who have been awaiting trial before a military court since last October just for trying to get the police to confirm information for a story involving security. The authorities are still preparing the prosecution case. Le Zénith editor Zacharie Ndiomo, who spent five months in prison in appalling conditions and without access to his medicine, is again the target of a criminal libel case brought by the same official over the same report. This is a clear violation of legal principle that a person cannot be tried twice for the same alleged crime. Other examples include parliament’s approval last December of an anti-terrorism law that can be applied to journalists. This is particularly worrying because Cameroon has still not decriminalized media offences and often sends journalists to prison. Cameroon is ranked 134th out of 180 countries in the 2015 Reporters Without Borders press freedom index.