Cameroon: concern over journalist's imprisonment

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To: IFEX Auto List (other news of interest)
From: World Association of Newspapers (WAN), [email protected]

Subject: WAN-WEF protest sent 23.1.02
Date: Wednesday, January 23, 2002 5:25 AM

The Right Honourable Amadou Ali
Justice Minister
Yaoundé, Cameroon
c/o Permanent Representative to UN
Email: [email protected]

23 January 2002

Dear Minister,

We are writing on behalf of the World Association of Newspapers and the
World
Editors Forum, which represent more than 18,000 publications in 93
countries, to
express our serious concern at the imprisonment of journalist Georges
Baongla.

According to reports, Mr Baongla, publication director of the weekly Le
Démenti,
was arrested on 9 January. Two days later, he appeared before a judge and
was
jailed at the Nkondengui central prison in Yaoundé. Police officers also
seized
the newspaper's computers.

In October 2001, Mr Baongla was sentenced in absentia to five years'
imprisonment and a fine of 17 million CFA francs (about US$22,800) for
fraud. He
is accused of extorting 10 million CFA francs from an official at the
Ministry
of the Economy and Finances. However, Le Démenti's editorial staff claim
that
the accusations are groundless and were fabricated by the government
and point out that his arrest follows the newspaper's publication of several
articles denouncing the
misappropriation of funds by the Minister of the Economy and Finances.

We are concerned that due process may not have been respected in this case:
Mr
Baongla was not warned of his trial's opening in October 2001 and only
learned
of his sentencing several days after the delivery of the verdict. In the
absence
of a satisfactory explanation, we are led to question the real motive behind
his
imprisonment.

We respectfully remind you that if the detention of Mr Mr Baongla is
connected
to his professional
journalistic activities, it would constitute a breach of his right to
freedom of
expression, which is
protected by numerous international agreements, including the Universal
Declaration of Human Rights. Furthermore, the United Nations Commission on
Human
Rights considers that "detention, as punishment for the peaceful expression
of
an opinion, is one of the most reprehensible ways to enjoin silence and, as
a
consequence, a grave violation of human rights".

We respectfully call on you to ensure that the circumstances surrounding Mr
Baongla's imprisonment are fully investigated and that, if due process was
not
followed, he is released and a fair retrial is re-ordered.

We look forward to hearing from you at your earliest convenience.

Yours sincerely,

Roger Parkinson
President
World Association of Newspapers

Gloria Brown Anderson
President
World Editors Forum