Cameroonian journalist jailed since January due in court on defamation charges

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CAPE TOWN – Cameroon journalist is due in court on Thursday next week after he was arrested and charged with criminal defamation last month following a complaint filed by the ex-wife of a government official, the Committee to Protect Journalists said.

On January 17, police in the capital Yaoundé arrested Martinez Zogo at the offices of Radio Amplitude FM, a privately owned broadcaster where he works as editor-in-chief, after Sylvie Biye Essono alleging he had spread false information about her in a January 8 broadcast.

Zogo was transferred to Yaoundé’s Kondengui prison, where he remains in detention, his lawyer Joseph Kenmoe told the CPJ.

The press freedom watchdog demanded that Cameroon authorities immediately release Zogo, drop all charges against him and reform the West African country’s penal code to decriminalize defamation.

“Cameroon’s maintenance of defamation as a criminal offense signals its disrespect for basic press freedom and unwillingness to align its laws with international standards on freedom of expression,” CPJ’s Africa programme coordinator Angela Quintal said.