20, June 2019
Ambazonia Revolution: Chris Anu no Longer Speaks for the Interim Government 0
Fellow Ambazonians,
The Interim Government hereby informs the people of the Southern Cameroons/Ambazonia and the general public that with immediate effect, Comrade Chris Anu is no longer Secretary of State for Communications and Information Technology. He, therefore is no longer a member of Cabinet.
Following the announcement of 14th May 2019 reconstituting the pre-5th January 2018 Cabinet and a Call to Service issued by Vice President Dabney Yerima on 22 May 2019, Chris Anu retorted in his public broadcast on ABC TV on 25 May 2019 that he will not work under the leadership of President Sisiku AyukTabe.
In a follow-up letter issued on 26 May 2019, Vice President Dabney Yerima notified Chris Anu that by rejecting the call to duty, he had given up his position as Secretary of State for Communication and Information Technology (SoS DCIT)
Accordingly, Comrade Chis Anu no longer speaks for the Interim Government and the people of Ambazonia.
Henceforth, whatever he says in the name of the revolution whether on his ABC TV, Facebook page or any other media platform should be considered as his personal opinion, which he is legitimately entitled to.
Any attempt to publicly articulate any views as representing the position of the Interim Government would be treated as gross misrepresentation with all the consequences associated thereto.
While we appreciate his service and contribution to our struggle, we also cannot overlook his mounting excesses that have become a liability to the revolution. We trust that he will continue to play a useful role in the revolution in his capacity as a private citizen.
On behalf of the entire Cabinet and the people of Ambazonia, I want to thank Comrade Chris Anu for his contribution to our struggle. We wish him well in all his future endeavours.
The Under Secretary of State for this department, Comrade Milton Taka assumes the role temporarily as Secretary of State for the DCIT until an appointment is announced in due course.
Thank You,
God Bless The Federal Republic of Ambazonia
Dabney Yerima
Vice President
21, June 2019
Cameroonian journalist detained on criminal defamation and false news charges 0
Cameroonian authorities should immediately release journalist Paul Chouta and drop criminal defamation and false news charges against him, the Committee to Protect Journalists said today.
On May 28, in the Cameroonian capital of Yaounde, five police officers arrested Chouta, who works as a reporter for the privately owned Cameroon Web news website, in response to a defamation complaint filed by French Cameroonian writer Calixthe Beyala, according to Cameroon Web editor-in-chief Emmanuel Vitus, who spoke with CPJ via messaging app, and a person with knowledge of the case who asked not to be named for fear of reprisal.
Chouta was detained at the local police headquarters following his arrest, and on May 31 was denied bail, according to his lawyer, Emmanuel Simh, who spoke with CPJ via messaging app. On June 10, he was charged with defamation, spreading false news, and hate speech; the hate speech charge was dropped the following day, and Chouta was sent to the Kondengui maximum security prison in Yaounde to await trial, according to Vitus and the person with knowledge of the case.
His next court appearance is scheduled for July 9, Vitus said.
“Instead of holding Paul Chouta in a maximum security prison, authorities should release him and encourage Calixthe Beyala to seek redress through civil remedies, not criminal action,” said CPJ Africa Program Coordinator Angela Quintal in New York. “Criminal defamation and false news laws have no place in a fair and just country, and Cameroon should change such laws.”
If found guilty, Chouta could face up to six months in prison and a fine of 2 million Central African francs ($3,447) for the defamation charge, and up to five years in jail and a fine of 1 million francs ($1,723) for the false news charge, according to the Cameroonian penal code.
In several posts on Beyala’s personal Facebook page, which CPJ reviewed but which have since been deleted or set to private, Beyala alleged that Chouta and other unspecified individuals made defamatory allegations about her personal life on social media and on the Facebook news page Le TGV de l’info, which Chouta manages.
CPJ called Beyala and messaged her on Facebook and WhatsApp, but did not receive any response.
Cameroonian Deputy Justice Minister Jean De Dieu Momo told CPJ via WhatsApp message that he was “not aware if web journalist is a profession organized by Cameroon law,” and declined to comment further on the case.
CPJ called and sent messages to Charles Manda, an adviser to the country’s communications minister, and Joyce Ndjem, the national communications chief for the Cameroonian police, but did not receive a response.
Chouta received repeated anonymous threats in recent months, and was attacked outside his home in February by suspected government agents, as CPJ reported at the time.
Vitus told CPJ that he suspected that the government’s harsh charges against Chouta, along with denying him bail, were in retaliation for his reporting on the government. The editor described Chouta as a vocal critic of Paul Biya, Cameroon’s president since 1982. Chouta’s recent reporting covered topics such as the arrest of a former Cameroonian government official and abuse allegations against police and a pro-government journalist.
Cameroon is the third worst jailer of journalists in Africa, after Egypt and Eritrea, with at least seven journalists behind bars for their work on December 1, 2018, according to CPJ’s annual prison census. It is the second-worst jailer of journalists on false news charges in the world, after Egypt, according to the census.
Source: Committee to Protect Journalist