Front Line is concerned following the sentencing to a prison term and fine, of human rights defender and journalist, Mr Lewis Medjo, on 7 January 2009. Lewis Medjo is Publications Director for the weekly newspaper La Détente Libre. Lewis Medjio and La Détente Libre regularly report on the human rights situation and good governance in Cameroon.

Further Information

On 22 September 2008, around 11 p.m., Lewis Medjo was arrested by Mr Vincent Minkoa Nga, Head of the provincial division of the judicial police of Douala, for 'publication of false news'. The arrest was made after an article written by Lewis Medjo was published in La Détente Libre on 7 August 2008 on the alleged attemps by the Head of State to compromise the independence of the Supreme Court by forcing its president to leave in 2009. Lewis Medjo was detained at the division of the judicial police in Littoral and then transferred to the central prison of Douala. His trial had to be resumed three times for administrative reasons. On 7 January 2009, he was sentenced by the Tribunal of First Instance in Wouri to three years' imprisonment and fined 2 million CFA (ca. 3049 euro).

Front Line believes that the arrest and trial of Lewis Medjo are related to his work in the defence of human rights, in particular his reporting on issues of human rights and good governance. Front Line is concerned for the physical and psychological integrity of Lewis Medjo while in detention.