Cameroon: Four journalists detained for stealing a minister’s glasses, released
Cameroon’s press freedom has once again paid the price of an administrative misunderstanding. François Essomba (Chine Afrique), Igor Gwet Bibey (Inform Plus), Solange Djuikam (Univers Info.net) and Pierre Mouchili (Le Procès International) were released this Monday after spending five days in police custody at Yaoundé’s Central Police Station No. 1.
Police arrested the four media professionals on September 16 at the Palais des Congrès while they were covering the closing ceremony of the Islamic Development Bank Group’s Annual Meetings. Police cited suspected theft of the glasses belonging to the Minister of Economy, Planning and Regional Development, Alamine Ousmane Mey.
According to our information, the glasses were actually found inside the minister’s vehicle, making the five-day detention of the four journalists even more difficult to justify.
The National Union of Information and Communication Professionals had denounced the arrests as arbitrary, with its Secretary-General, Yannick Ebosse, stressing that the journalists were at the venue strictly as part of their professional duties. The union announced on Monday that it would mobilize its legal resources.
Their release does not close the case. It leaves open the question of compensation for five days of detention based on an apparently mistaken accusation, and once again highlights the fragile conditions under which journalists operate in Cameroon when confronted with the security apparatus.
