The Committee to
Protect Journalists calls on Cameroonian authorities to drop all charges
against three journalists for failing to disclose information to the
state. The three are scheduled to stand trial before a military court on
Friday.
Baba Wame,
president of the Association of Cyber Journalists, Rodrigue Tongue, a
reporter who formerly worked for the privately owned daily Le Messager,
and Félix Cyriaque Ebolé Bola, a reporter for the privately owned daily
Mutations, will appear in the military court in Yaoundé on charges of
"non-denunciation," Denis Nkwebo, president of the Cameroon Journalism
Trade Union, told CPJ.
"Journalists should
not be required to disclose information they uncover in their work or
act as police informers," said CPJ Africa Program Coordinator Sue
Valentine. "The government should immediately drop these charges against
Baba Wame, Rodrigue Tongue, and Félix Cyriaque Ebolé Bola, and allow
all journalists to do their work without fear of prosecution."
The journalists
were first charged with failing to disclose information that could harm
national security on October 28, 2014, according to news reports.
According to the news website Camer.be, they had found allegations that
members of the security forces were colluding with the leader of an
armed group from Central African Republic.
When they charged
the journalists, prosecutors also issued an order banning them from
publishing in the news media and requiring them to register with police
weekly. That order expired in January 2015, according to reports.
If convicted, the
three journalists face jail terms of between one to five years and a
fine between 50,000 and 5 million Central African Francs (US$83 to
$8257), according to Amnesty International.
The journalists
deny having uncovered any information about any act that could have
harmed Cameroon's national security, and maintain that they were bound
to protect their confidential sources, the reports said.