Cameroon: Newspaper publisher in detention

“It is now certain that incarcerated publisher, Lewis Medjo will spend Christmas and New Year 2008 away from his family and friends at the Newbell prison in Douala”, report The Herald newspaper. It should be noted that Medjo was placed at the Newbell prison in Douala on pre-trial detention since his arrest last 22 September.

By Yemti Harry Ndienla

The Yaounde-based publisher of the private French language weekly, La Détente Libre was charged with propagating fallacious information. His incarceration has been linked to a publication in La Détente Libre of 7 August 2008. The report claimed that President Paul Biya had sacked Dipanda Mouelle, the Supreme Court magistrate famed for proclaiming election results in the country.
But the story proved false as Dipanda Mouelle is still very much in command.
The same story was repeated in edition no. 354 of the same paper, alongside another linking police chief, Edgar Alain Mebe Ngo’o in a plot to covertly hand back Yves Michel Fotso’s passport against a huge kickback. The vital travel document was confiscated by the authorities in April supposedly to prevent the tycoon from fleeing the country.
Fotso has been under investigation for his role in the purchase of a defective presidential plane, the Albatross. The matter has already landed some senior government officials behind bars. In a recent media outing, Fotso claimed that his father had been contacted by unnamed individuals demanding 100 million FCFA to give back his passport.
According to the La Détente story, Medjo [known to be a dear friend of incarcerated former finance minister, Polycarpe Abah Abah] revealed that the Delegate General for National Security, Mebe Ngo’o recruited a woman described as his girlfriend to contact the Fotsos and make the proposal, using pictures of the passport, which Medjo published in his story.
Medjo’s collaborators say for several weeks before his arrest, he had been under surveillance and intense pressure by police to reveal his sources regarding the Fotso passport story. He did not and was eventually arrested.
The first hearings in the protracting case began last 3 October at the Wouri Court of First Instance in Douala. It was adjourned to 7 November on grounds that Medjo and his lawyers failed to present his judicial track record and also that the plaintiff[s] failed to show up in court. Last 7 November, the presiding judge again adjourned the case to 2 January 2009 even as Medjo’s lawyers pleaded not guilty.
The court even asked the defence lawyers to help it identify the plaintiff[s]. Lawyers Kamogne and Dika say they are scandalized as it is abnormal they be handed such a mission while their client remains in jail. The state prosecutor however indicated that summons had been served people connected with the case and that their reaction was still awaited.