Military tribunal issues travel ban on journalists, bars them from practising

By Sylvanus Ezieh in Yaounde

 

The Yaounde military tribunal has barred two journalists from practising until further notice. Félix Cyriaque Ebole Bola of Mutations newspaper and Rodrigue Tongue of Le Messager were given the embargo yesterday after they appeared at the tribunal to answer charges relating to the security of the state. 

Rodrigue Tongue

The journalists told pressmen shortly after their interrogations that the judge has barred them from leaving the country throughout the trial period nor organise any press conference on the matter.

Felix Cyriaque

The judge equally obliged the duo to report to her office every Monday and to provide two individuals each as guarantee that they would not jump bail. The two individuals, the judge said, should neither be journalists nor parliamentarians.

Baba Wame

Felix and Rodrigue were summoned by the tribunal alongside Baba Wame, an Information Technology lecturer at the Advanced School of Mass Communication, ASMAC who is also a media practitioner. Baba who like Marafa hails from Garoua is also a sub-director in the ministry of communication. The trio are accused of refusing to make available information which is reportedly detrimental to the security of the state.

According to the accusations levelled against the journalists, Baba Wame had furnished Felix and Rodrigue with a document containing information about the physical ability of the head of state. Following the accusations, the document alleged that the head of state was physically unfit for any political exercise nor capable of running the country.

The document was allegedly handed to Baba Wame by Marafa’s legal adviser, Abdoulai Harissou who is currently being detained at the Kondengui prison over charges of arms possession and indecent behaviour against the head of state.

But the duo have denied all the accusations, maintaining that they were in possession of no document of the sort. Rodrigue, for example even claims that the last time he met Harrissou was in early 2000 during a meeting of notaries; when Marafa was still minister.

The interrogations which began with Felix and ended with Rodrigue lasted for over four hours. By press time, the tribunal was yet to fix a date for hearing of the substantive matter.