A Cameroonian writer sentenced for up to seven-years in prison

A Cameroonian writer: Enoh Meyomesse, who was sentenced to seven-years in prison on 27 December 2012, was honoured with an Oxfam Novib / PEN Freedom of Expression Award, on the 8th of January 2013. I wonder if freedom of press (speech) and information has lost its legs and hands in Cameroon...?

According to artsfreedom, Meyomesse as we speak is held an over-crowded Kondengui Central Prison in Yaoundé. Meaning the Oxfam Novib / PEN Freedom of Expression Award was presented in his absence at a ceremony during The Writers Unlimited Winternachten Festival in The Hague which took place on the 17th of January 2013. 

Since the moment of Meyomesse’s arrest, there were serious concerns about the charges against him, and also about his treatment in prison, which at times amounted to torture. There were reports that the prosecution had fabricated evidence, and that Meyomesse was denied proper legal representation for the first few months of his incarceration. Amnesty International considers Meyomesse to be a prisoner of conscience. By June 2012, all of the charges against Meyomesse had been dropped, however in July 2012 the WiPC learned that a judge had ordered the extension of Meyomesse’s detention so that the prosecutor could ostensibly search for evidence against the writer. Meyomesse was subsequently charged with being an accomplice to theft and illegal traffic of gold and, after numerous procedural delays was found guilty as charged on 27 December 2012. Source: Artsfreedom.org

Meyomesse's acceptance speech gives the impression his charges and conviction was politically motivated.  On the other hand, the Writers in Prison Committee of PEN International also believes Meyomesse’s detention was a political means to shut the writer-up and calls on the Cameroonian authorities to quash the conviction and to release him immediately and unconditionally. 

However, here is a translation of Enoh Meyomesse’s acceptance speech ( translated by Patrice Nganang): 

"Rulers use the most ideal and least threatening alibi for them, the accusation of having committed a common crime, to silence us, dissidents, a situation similar to what happened during the Cold War in Eastern European dictatorships, in the Greece of colonels, in Portugal under the dictatorship of Salazar, in Spain under Franco.

‘Luckily, you, people from the North, souls of good will from Western countries where democracy is truly established, stand resolutely on our side. In doing so you prove that people’s freedom and solidarity does not know boundaries.

‘In presenting this award to the wretched writer that I am, captive in the depths of a Cameroonian jail, you have joined your powerful voice to mine and to that of the many anonymous men and women who are incarcerated in my country because their opinion has not pleased some high-ranking officials in the state apparatus who therefore used judges to unleash their vengeance against them."

It is reported that during Meyomesse first month in detention, he was placed in a solitary confinement and in complete darkness, which reportedly triggered a debilitating eye condition with the potential of leaving him blind. It is believed Meyomesse’s lawyers are working hard in launching a procedural  appeal. 

So who is this witter that must be shut-up at all cost by the Cameroon Government: Sources (http://artsfreedom.org)

Enoh Meyomesse, 57, is the author of numerous books and is a founding member of the Cameroon Writers Association. Arrested on 22 November 2011, Meyomesse was initially charged with attempting to organise a coup, possessing a firearm and aggravated theft. Meyomesse denied all charges and maintained that he had been arrested because of views expressed in his writings, and for his political activism. Meyomesse was a candidate for the presidential election on 9 October 2011, under the banner of the opposition party United National Front (UNF).

Note

The constitution guarantees freedom of the press, but in practise the threat of government censorship generally prevents opposition viewpoints from appearing in print, especially in the government-controlled press. 

Censorship and harassment of journalists is common in Cameroon. The government has been implicated in recent efforts to block access to Twitter within the country. Newspaper editor Raphaël Nkamtcheun was detained for receiving allegedly confidential government documents from former finance minister Polycarpe Abah Abah when he visited Abah inYaoundé prison on February 17, 2011, an incident that Reporters Without Borders condemned as arbitrary intimidation. "Cameroun Express" editor Ngota Ngota Germain (aka Bibi Ngota) died in Yaoundé’s Kondengui Central Prison on April 22, 2011, an incident opponents cite as government intimidation; other reporters subject to arrest and incarceration without being charged include editors Serge Sabouang of the bimonthly "La Nation" and Robert Mintya of the weekly "Le Devoir" 

In 2009, the freedom of the press global classification released each year by Reporters Without Borders ranked Cameroon 109 out of 175 countries. "Sensitive issues" were reported there. 

88 proposals to create private radio and television services are under examination by the Minister of Communication.

Source: Reporters Without Borders (August 20, 2011) and wikipedia.org